writingstufff1

[writingstufff1]

Better with you - Montgomery De La Cruz

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ANONYMOUS SAID: ‘I have an idea for a possible future Monty story. I don’t know how to say it without it coming out the wrong way so I’m just gonna go ahead anyway lol, something where the reader cheats on her boyfriend with Monty and they have their own little thing on the side because Monty just makes her feel so good like not just in a sexual way but in other ways too. Kind of like how Jess loves Alex, but it’ll never compare to Justin’

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Warnings!: quite a bit of swearing and those sexual things (also Bryce is mentioned but not in much detail)

“Hey!” Y/BF/N says as his arms wrap themselves around me and kisses me on the forehead. “How’s it going?” I somewhat force a smile up to him. It’s not that I’m not happy to see him, it’s just hard to smile in such a shit place. School of course. “Pretty good actually. I just finished some things up with Tyler. It’s finally getting somewhere.” Y/BF/N is friends does photography with him, so they’re pretty much best friends. Which is nice - I love Tyler - but drama seams to follow Tyler. So it follows Y/BF/N. And so it passes me too. “You have a free period next, right?” I nod at his question. “Lucky! I’ll meet you in our usual spot afterwards?” A quick peck lands on my lips, and then he’s suddenly walking away.

I sit in the cafeteria. It’s usually overcrowded and too loud, but there’s only a handful of people not in class right now. Which is a relief. Starting to peel my orange, I glance up to notice a certain ‘Montgomery’ walking my way. “Y/N! Fancy seeing you here,” he places himself on the opposite side of the table. I shake my head, a smile slowly cracking. “Wow Cruz, you say that as if you don’t sit your ass in that seats pretty much daily at this time,” his eyebrows raise. “Alright Y/N. I just wanted to say hi to my best friend jeez.” I shove a segment in my mouth, pushing it to the side of my mouth for a second. “Aren’t you meant to be in some Literatue class or something right now?” His eyes light up. Sometimes I think I should just not say anything to Monty, but I like Monty. “See, I knew you cared-” he pauses, grabbing the other half of my orange from the table. “And I ain’t gonna use it, so what’s the point?” I look at him in somewhat amazement as he casually eats my food. “I mean, fair enough,” I shrug. I should be used to this. This has happened almost every day for a few months now. Why? I don’t know. It just did one day, and then it was almost like a routine. “Thanks for that, I’ll see you later?” I nod at him, although I know I shouldn’t.

“Are we hanging out later?” I ask my boyfriend. “Sorry Y/N, my mum needs me,” I nod slightly. Internally sighing, the answer is everything I expected. Don’t get me wrong, I love him for being close to his family, but I get that response every time I ask. We’ve had sex twice. You may think, what’s wrong with that? We’ve been dating for a year. It’s fine though. I can’t exactly say ‘leave your mum’ can I? Unfortunately not.

Instead I go to Jessica’s. The fact that Y/BF/N doesn’t make *that much* of an effort does kinda get me down, and Jess always knows how to snap me out of those thoughts. So I can’t help but get excited as I pull up to her house. Hardly parking, I see her body rush towards my car and throw herself into the passenger’s seat. “Perfect timing, let go!” She smiles way too massively at me. “Where are we going?” I laugh nervously. “Bryce is having a small get together.” I can guarantee it won’t be a ‘small get together’. Bryce does parties, and they’re always PARTIES. “I thought-“ “Nah, now drive girl!”

We walk in, and it’s exactly what I expected. This ‘small get together’ is at least 50 people. “Welcome ladies!” Scott smiles and runs up to us with a red cup in each hand. My automatic reaction to this gesture is to smell the cup, and let’s just say I didn’t have to get my nose too close to smell the thickness of the alcohol. “Jesus, what’s in this?” I ask, making Jess laugh. “I’m not sure. Monty made it,” he shrugs and gets lost in a crowd of people. “Drink up Y/N,” Jess taps the bottom of my cup. “I’m driving, and I can’t image how many units is in this one cup.” Her eyes roll. “Suit yourself, I’m finding Justin!” I doubt I’ll see Jess again tonight.

Drinking this - whatever he wants to call it - is a bad idea for me, so I go into the kitchen and find myself a drink. Just as I sip my water, I get a text.

Hey! Xx - Y/BF/N ❤️

I almost immediately respond.

Are you able to get away?x - Y/N

I see those 3 dots pop up, meaning he’s typing. Just as I thought I could escape, his response was exactly what I didn’t need to hear.

Sorry Y/N, it’s a bit late. I’ll call you in a bit though?xx - Y/BF/N ❤️

‘Call me in a bit’? Is he taking the piss? Damn I feel special. ITS ALSO 8:30 LIKE WHAT? I roll my eyes, which make them land on the back of Monty’s head. I shake my head as his eyes meet mine, and can’t help but smile. “Montgomery! I heard you’ve supplied the drinks tonight,” he shrugs and raises his eyes with a beaming smile. “You know me Y/N, it’s nice right?” As I press my lips together, his face forms a shocked expression. “I’m offended, have a sip,” he passes me his drink. I know I shouldn’t drink tonight, but honestly I just wanna have a some fun. My hand wraps the cup - leading Monty to nod at me with a devilish grin. It’s hard to even put the drink in my mouth with the stench, but I chug it anyway. “Shit,” he laughs ‘impressed’. “Fuck that’s so gross,” I cover my mouth with my hand trying not to urge. “I’ll take another one,” I add.

After the first cup, I was already tipsy. And that shit was like half full. So after my next full cup I was pretty drunk already. Which is exactly what I needed. “I thought it was gross?” He laughs as he notices me going through my fresh cup quite fast. I respond with a shrug. “It’s growing on me,” I go to grab him on the shoulder, but I miss, making me stumble forwards. Two hands latch on under my forearm steadying me upright. “Shit,” his chuckle is quite cute- NO. I don’t mean that. I don’t know why that just popped into my head. My finger begin to stroke his arms. That needs to stop. Apart from the music and the screaming and the ‘fun’ going on around us, it was silent. It was the first time I looked into his eyes for more than a quick glance. And unfortunately I’ve just finished another cup of strong ass liquor. “I feel like I wanna kiss you,” I blurt out, my hands immediately cover my mouth. Nothing else can slip out. “Sorry,” I giggle. “I’m just lonely,” oh my god Y/N SHUT UP! “You’re not lonely Y/N, you have a boyfriend.” My mind and mouth start working faster. “Boyfriend? Y/BF/N doesn’t even fucking touch me- shit,” I hush myself.

Next thing I know is I’m being guided out of Bryce’s house. “I’ll take you home,” he breathes. I frown at him. “Driving drunk is dangerous Montgomery don’t you know this.” The smile on his face appears so faintly, and it’s unreadable. Especially in my current state. “You pinched my drink. Did you see me have another one?” No. No I didn’t. Why didn’t he? “Take my car then, and I can’t go home.”

We get to Monty’s, but I don’t realise where I am until I’m inside. “This isn’t what I meant...” I huff. He throws off his Liberty jacket and kicks his shoes in a corner. “You can sleep in my bed,” he hooks his arm under mine to walk me to the bedroom. Hang on. “I have a boyfriend Monty, so no sex,” my hand goes on his chest as a warning. “I’ll try not to fuck you.” At this time, that was good enough for me. It shouldn’t be. Ever. “I appreciate that,” I fall into his bed - which was automatically the comfiest bed I’ve ever laid on. Suddenly my shoes are off and I’m pretty much tucked in. “It’s just hit me,” I sit up too fast, making my head spin. “I don’t know what’s gone on in this bed,” my stomach starts to turn. “You can only imagine,” he shrugs. And suddenly I’m offended? Just go to sleep Y/N.

The next morning

I wake up fully aware of what went on last night, and frankly embarrassed. Not embarrassed that I flirted with Monty. Not even that I’ve ended up at his place in his bed. I just feel guilty. Like I cheated? But I know I didn’t. I shouldn’t of done what I did, but I didn’t do anything wrong. Did I? I walk out of the bedroom, and notice Monty in the kitchen boiling the kettle. “Good morning, coffee?” I shake my head at him with a smile. “Thank you, for last night by the way. My parents would’ve killed me,” I let out a small laugh before tying my hair up in a ponytail with a spare hairband on my wrist. Glancing up to the clock on the wall, I sigh massively. “Shit, I should probably get home. I can drop you to Bryce’s to get your car if you’d like?” I offer. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later.”

Getting myself to school on time was no problem, but as soon as I entered the building it felt as if everything was moving in slow motion. Until I see him. “Hey! How was your night?” Y/BF/N kisses my forehead, not my lips. “It was alright, I drank a little too much to be honest,” we begin walking down the corridor. As cringe as it sounds, all I wanted was him to hold my hand. Is it that hard? Really? “I bet your parents flipped then,” he chuckles. This is it. I have no reason to lie - really. I didn’t do anything wrong. But it sounds wrong. “Actually, I-“ I pause. “I stayed at Jess’ so they don’t know,” I watch as he nods. His facial expression immediately looks relieved. “Jess told me, I just wanted to make sure.” My heart stops at his response. What the fuck does that mean? He asked Jess before asking me? That’s not right? Yet I say nothing... because I can’t find a reason to.

It’s that time again. That one free period. I’m expecting Monty at any moment now. I hate to say it but I quite look forward to it. It’s somewhat a breath of fresh air. “I was wondering when you’d appear,” I smile as he sits himself in his seat. Going quiet, I swirl my fruit around the pot with a fork. “Are you okay?” His face serious. I take a breath. “I wanted to apologise for last night actually. I shouldn’t of said what I said,” I dodge his gaze, which is extremely hard. The silence remains, but only for a second. “Did you mean it?” I could play dumb and be like ‘mean what’ but I know. It’s been running on loop for the past 16 hours. “It doesn’t matter whether I meant it or not. I have a boyfriend.” “So you did?” He smirks. I’m not gonna mention the effect of the smirk. I guess you can imagine. I let a small smile appear at the side of my face. “Maybe...” sober flirting is NOT okay Y/N! I try to remind myself over and over but it’s so tempting. My heart suddenly sinks. “Can I ask you something? I want a serious answer,” his eyes widen, yet he still nods. “Is it odd that my boyfriend asked Jess where I was last night, then asked me to double check?” His eyebrows raise. “He was trying to catch you out. That’s a bit-“ “I know.” Control your breathing Y/N. I start to feel extra heavy on my heart, which means I’m probably about 30 seconds away from breaking down. “He’s never been like that before,” I mutter. “Y/N. You need to realise that I’m probably more in love with you than he is,” my head shoots up, making him cough. I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t skip a beat; it actually skipped about 17. “Don’t say shit like that Montgomery- he’s never even said it,” I laugh to break the awkwardness. “You’ve been dating for ages Y/N. You deserve better than that, always.” I watch as he lifts himself out of his seat. “Monty-“ I try and stop him. “I need to go, I’ll text you.”

Several sentences run on loop through my head for the rest of the day. Every breath that exited Monty’s mouth was just - confusing. Shoving my head in my locker, a lot like I see Clay doing a lot, seems just like the escape I need. Except it’s not an escape. I’m still in this shit hole. “Hey!” I get poked in my side gently by Y/BF/N. It’s been about an hour and a half since I spoke to Monty. So it’s been an hour and a half of me working myself. And right now I’m pretty fucking angry. He catches me roll my eyes. “Honestly, Y/BF/N, I wouldn’t wanna talk to me right now,” I warn him, as my heart starts to race faster and faster the more I look up at him. “What’s this about then?” A chuckle leaves his lips, and I contain as much as I can. “Maybe the fact that you don’t fucking trust me,” although I don’t think he should trust me, he has no reason to not. “Who said that?” He’s such a nice guy. I swear he is. I don’t wanna hurt him. “You!” I raise my voice but take a breath before continuing. ‘When you asked Jess where I stayed last night,” it’s almost a whisper. He lets out a big sigh. “I know what those guys are like.” Those guys. Everyone knows what most of those guys are like. Some of those guys are nice, to me at least. And some of those guys are Scott and Monty. That’s pretty much it. “And me? You don’t know what I’m like?” In the corner of my eye I see Monty laughing with Bryce, Zach, and Scott. A sudden urge comes over me to end this conversation. “Look, maybe we need some space,” I lie. As if we need more space. “Y/N,” his arm wraps around my forearm. The sad truth is that’s the most action I’ve got in a long ass time. “I’ll ring you tonight, I need to go.” So I close my locker, turn around, and catch Monty’s eye before walking out of school.

Refusing Jess’ offer to drive me home, I just think and pretty much talk to myself all the way to my house. I’m lost. Not actually physically lost, but I am lost. I’m only bought back to reality when my phone dings.

‘Really Y/N?’ - Y/BF/N ❤️

I can’t help but roll my eyes. This is what I have to do to get attention from my own boyfriend? No apology, because he hasn’t done anything wrong. He could say ‘let’s talk about it’. Why would he say that though? I go to text him back but my phone starts to ring.

“And what do you want Monty?” I smile down the phone. I’m very glad I’m on my own right now. “I was just seeing if you’re alright.” I sigh at his words. To think that’s all I want Y/BF/N to say. To show some affection! That would be nice. But Y/BF/N isn’t Monty. “I guess so. I’ve just got home.” He begins to talk about some random ass shit - stuff we wouldn’t usually talk about - while I unlock the front door to my house. Throwing my bag down on my bedroom floor, I get a text. Damn. Why am I so popular today? “Why has Bryce just texted me?” I laugh, mostly to myself. “He’s probably trying to get you to come to his house party tonight.” I freeze. “Wasn’t there-“ “Yeah, but his parents are out of town for a few days I think,” he sounds unimpressed. Monty? Bryce’s best friend? Is sounding unimpressed with Bryce’s actions? That’s a first. “Why’d you sound like that?” “I told him not to text you. Don’t let him pressure you into it,” it’s as if Monty knew every word that would make me like him more, more than I should. “I really enjoyed myself you know, I don’t think I mentioned that,” I admit, and silence falls across the line for seconds that feel like minutes. Then appears a cough. “Well, in that case, I’ll pick you up. If you want that is.” I can only read Monty’s face at the best of times, so trying to judge his voice is a fat ass struggle. “It’s-“ My body wanted to use the ‘it’s a date’ line. THAT would be embarrassing. “Okay then.”

Clothing. Such a funny thing. When it comes to Y/BF/N I find myself not really caring what I wear, so I feel somewhat guilty for caring now. ‘It’s a party’ is an excuse, but I’d be lying. He’s never shown much interest unfortunately. So here I am, rummaging frantically through my wardrobe and drawers to find something cute. I find a dress, that is probably a bit short, but ‘it’s a party’. Should I curl my hair? No. That looks like too much effort. But... no. I decide just to brush it. With a knock on the door, my head shoots to the clock on my wall. 8pm?! Shit. My legs and my heart speed up drastically and I hear my mum answer the door. Fuck no.

I walk downstairs and witness the embrace between Monty and my mother. “Ah Y/N, I was just meeting...” my mum pauses and gazed at me in hint of ‘what’s this guy’s name?’ “Monty,” I sigh. I press my lips together to smile towards them both. “It’s so nice to meet you,” if there’s one thing you should know about my mum is that she’s very touchy. I would’ve warned Monty, but I hadn’t quite imagined them meeting yet - or at all really. She shakes his hand. I cough while I slip my shoes on, which are trainers so I guess they kill the dress vibe. I don’t care. Once they’re on, my mission is to leave. I need to. I know what she’s like. “Alright, I’ll see you later!” I give my mum a hug and open the front door as fast as I can. “Please come in quietly. It was nice to finally meet you Monty! I’ve been waiting to meet Y/N boyfriend for a long time now.” “Alright bye!” I rush. Fuck.

“I’m sorry about that,” I laugh as I throw myself in the passenger seat. The smile on his face is very comforting. “Nah it’s cool, I’d love to have a mum like that,” my heart sinks slightly. I’m not 100% sure what that means, but it’s definitely not positive. “Y/N.” Is all he says. “About Y/BF/N-“ “I know.” I stop him. Thanks mum. The engine finally starts, and we’re off, and I realise that I’m off to a party with Monty. I don’t think this looks very good.

A drink is pretty much thrown at me as soon as I walk in the house. It’s a lot like deja vu, except I’ve appeared with Monty today. Shit. I shouldn’t be here. My eyes lay on Jess. “Give me a sec,” I say, and wonder over to my best friend. Her arms wrap around me, squeezing me as if we haven’t seen each other in weeks. We chat about some random shit until it must sink in. “Wait... did you come with Monty?” She asks thick with confusion. “I did...” I say slowly. “Does it look bad?” I ask. I ask only because I know she’ll be honest. “A little, but honestly fuck Y/BF/N!” My jaw drops with a smile. “I mean it! He’s a nice guy and all, but he’s pretty shit to you,” she shrugs and chugs the rest of her drink. “At least Monty is shit to everyone but you.”

Wishing Jess never said those words, I find myself hung up on them as I hang out with the guy. I know Monty isn’t the nicest person to everyone, but when I speak to him I don’t care. Should I? I feel like I should. I take a sip of my drink, which isn’t a mix of everything this time, while I listen to Scott. He’s one of those guys that you just want as your best friend. I laugh at the funny thing he said. I’d mention it, but I don’t remember as I notice Monty calling me over to him with his hand.

Finishing up my conversation with Scott, I follow Monty outside. The sky beams clear. Not a star in sight. “Are you cold?” He asks. It’s also not warm, but it isn’t cold either. I say no, slightly afraid of how I’d have to act if he offered his jacket. “I haven’t seen much of you,” I’m unsure of what to say so I say that. It’s never awkward with us, but I don’t trust myself anymore. Why should Y/BF/N trust me when I don’t even trust me? “Awe did you miss me?” He nudges me with a gleaming smile. I stop myself from smiling as the guilt starts to flood in. “Y/N-“ “I’m fine. It’s just...” “Y/BF/N,” he interrupts. I let out a short awkward laugh. Sigh. “I feel like talking about him with you will make things odd between us,” I gesture Monty and I. “And that’s wrong.” “It’s okay-“ “it’s not though,” tears - for some weird reason - start to form in my eyes. Blinking reduces the watering. That would be embarrassing. “He’s my boyfriend,” I let out in a whisper. “He’s a shit boyfriend if you ask me,” Monty huffs. Although I somewhat agree, Monty’s words stress me out a little. The truth hurts, and the fact that Monty is the only person to tell me that (other than Jess) is annoying. “Well I didn’t ask,” I didn’t want to snap at him, and my tone was too soft for it to. If anything I sounded pathetic. “I’m gonna kiss you now,” he says OUT OF NOWHERE. “Wha-“ I’m stopped by his lips. Lips so soft and sweet and just... perfect. His lips on mine, his fingers on his right hand tilting my chin up slightly. I’m truly swept away. My right hand goes up to the side of his face to keep his lips on mine for a little longer - and then I realise what I’m doing. Shit. I’m unsure of what to do as I pull away, so I just become completely speechless. Our eyes lock for 5 seconds at the most. Then I find myself running away.

“Woah, are you okay?” Hands go on my shoulder. More specifically, Scott’s hands, when he stops me in my tracks. “Fuck,” I let out in a breath. “Is there anywhere I can just go to breathe a second?” He walks me to a spare bedroom which is very clearly one of a few. I’m prepared to be by myself, but Scott takes a seat on the bed. My own fingers spread through my hair in a stressed motion. “I just kissed Monty,” Scott’s facial expression doesn’t change. I realise that this is Scott, and I shouldn’t be talking to him about this, but it’s also Scott - the actual nice guy. “And..?” He shrugs, shoving some small snack food in his mouth. “And I shouldn’t have.” “Do you have a boyfriend or something?” I snap my head to Scott after his words. “Y/BF/N..?” I ask slowly, and his eyes widen. “What, really? I thought he was gay,” I can’t help but crack a smile for a very short second. “Scott...” I shake my head. Honestly I’m just thankful Scott’s the way he is. How did he just lighten the mood with that? “I know I shouldn’t pry but he doesn’t really treat you in that way,” he pauses. “From what I’ve seen of course.” Oh of course. “Look Scott, I appreciate this but can you give me a second to be by myself?” I ask as nicely as I can. “Oh shit, yeah of course. Sorry,” he chuckles, and stands. “What do you want me to tell Monty?” He turns before he leaves the room. “Anything, but don’t tell him I’m up here please.” He closes the door behind him.

I pace the floor up and down approximately 50 times before Monty walks through the door. My heart stops. “I told Scott-“ “I know, but he’s my best friend Y/N,” he closes the door gently behind him, but he doesn’t enter the room fully. Only staying by the door. As if waiting for some sort of permission, I watch as he twiddles his fingers. “You shouldn’t of kissed me Monty,” I sigh. A step forward is taken by the boy in front of me. “I’m really sorry,” to be able to feel the apology from Montgomery De La Cruz is truly something. I’ve never seen him like this. I hate how much I like it. “You know I have a boyfriend, and you did it anyway,” Monty avoids my gaze at him, looking at the ground instead. Or the ceiling. Or the wall. “I just thought-“ “I know what you thought.” I stop him. I want him him to leave, but the thought of him leaving me right now was just heartbreaking. A few more steps are taken. “It’s unfair. It’s unfair on Y/BF/N, and you. And me.” When his eyes finally look at me - not at anything but - I just knew. The feeling of needing someone has never felt so prominent to me. So I act on it. My hands reach up to his head, I lift myself onto my tip toes, and pull his lips down to mine. His hands are gently caressing my waist within seconds. My legs lead us towards the bed. The feeling of his body slowly sitting down shouldn’t of been a cue for my body to straddle him, but I do. And then the make out becomes a bit more full on. I feel guilty for not feeling guilty. I should be regretting this, but it’s actually perfect. The way he slides his tongue into my mouth, and the way his hands are slowly making their way lower down my body, it’s a different feeling. In this moment, I’m starting to realise how full I feel around him, and how almost utterly empty I feel otherwise. I let out a light moan as his hand reach my ass and move me - creating that friction feeling I’ve been missing. The smirk I felt under our kiss was adorable. I didn’t even need to see it, although I’m thankful I didn’t. This boy doesn’t need to wrap me around his finger any tighter.

My hands move themselves to the bottom of his tee, and that’s when I freeze. I break our lips and balance my forehead on his. Heavy breathes leave my mouth. “I’m sorry, I just-“ I pause to breathe and think carefully about my words. “I don’t wanna stop but I think I need to sort some shit out,” he nods underneath me, but he says absolutely nothing. This is not where my guilt should be. “I’m just a bad enough person already as it is,” I let out a chuckle once I see the side of his mouth turn up slightly. “Want me to drive you home?” I smile sympathetically at his words. His voice so soft. I hold the sides of his face and smooth his cheeks for a few seconds. His hand holds over mine, takes it, and kisses it. Blush. “Okay, let’s leave now,” I laugh, embarrassed of the hold he has over me.

Midday the next day

Since there was almost no drinking and definitely no drugs taken on my part, my head should be fine. But my head is FUCKED. Do I feel guilty? I feel guilty about leaving Monty last night, not Y/BF/N. And that’s making me feel guilty. So it’s about 7am and I’m walking to school. I hardly slept, I just thought the rest of the night. When I did finally fall asleep, I dreamt about Monty and how perfect last night was despite everything. I’m only walking to pass time. Driving would be way too quick. Although, my plan to have my mission planned by the time I get there, is a mission failed already. A 30 minute walk and nothing. Fuck.

In a crowd of people, I automatically spot 4 people. Monty and Scott are the first two, then Jess, and then Y/BF/N. My paranoia goes straight to ‘Monty’s told Scott and Scott’s told everyone else’, but I’ve never seen Scott or Monty like that. I know they’ve done it though. That makes me nervous. I go straight to Jess. She always knows what to say. “Hey... Jess,” I sigh. Usually me and Jess get lost in ourselves and ignore a lot of the noise around us, but not today. Not for me. Eyes were on me, even if they weren’t actually. “Are you- oh Y/N,” her eyes hint to my left. Y/BF/N. “That’s my cue to leave,” her words leave as does she. Thanks a lot. “We need to talk.” He knows.

We walk outside just around the corner. It’s not as if we’re in private. Nothing is private here. “We need to talk about yesterday,” he looks me dead in the eyes, which is quite intimidating. I’m such a shitty person. “I thought about it, and I understand why you acted the way you did.” His words sting. There’s nothing I can do. Admitting it out loud is so frightening so I say nothing still. He sighs. “The silent treatment? Really? You overreacted about me asking Jess,” he rolls his eyes at me. My gut goes from feeling sick, to really fucking angry. “Wow okay,” I let out in an angry mumble. “But I am sorry. I should’ve just asked you, and not Jess,” my eyebrows raise at his apology. “You’re a dickhead,” is all I can get out. My legs try to walk me away, but his hand clutch my wrist. “I’m trying to fix this,” his words, although exactly what I wanted to hear, were quite harshly spat at me as his grip grows tighter. “I think we need to be done.” Did I actually just say that? I’ve kept that to myself for too long. He lets my arm fall from his grip. I’ve never seen him like this. “You’re not breaking up with me, you’re gonna regret that.” The guy I watch strop away is not the guy I know? Who is that?

The bell rang about 10 minutes after Y/BF/N walked away, but I only just walk myself into the building. I find the guy I actually don’t mind bumping into leaning again my locker. “Hey Monty,” his smile makes me smile, which is so gross I know. “Are you okay?” He asks, nodding towards outside. “Yeah, I just, I’m so confused,” when I light my hand up to cup my forehead, I notice - as does Monty - the finger marks around my wrist. They’re ever so faint, but they’re there. “He tried to stop me walking away, it’s no big deal,” I say to his eyes. The facial expression was nothing I’d seen before. “Honestly, it’s nothing,” my right hand reaches up to his face to cup his cheek, then I realise where we are. “What did he say?” He asks. I wonder why he cares so much. It’s really attractive. “Can we talk about it later?” I ask, and his slow nod is extremely comforting. “Do you wanna ditch?” A wide smile spread across his face. “Monty...” I whisper, reciprocating the same expression. My back slowly flattens against the lockers neighbouring mine as his body gets closer to mine. “I think we should ditch,” he says again once his body is gently touching mine. Imagine just one person comes out of class right now. We definitely shouldn’t, but I really want to. “Okay,” I whisper, nibbling the inside of my lip. His hand slips gently into mine and he pulls me out of the shitty school. I’m a terrible person.

It’s as if it’s a whole other world with Monty. I can’t describe it fully, because I don’t fully understand it myself, but I got lost in him. “Where are we going then?” He asks about 5 minutes into driving. I raise my eyebrows towards him with a fat smile on my face. “You’re the one who said we should ditch!” He just shrugs. I face forwards, but I catch him smirk at me in the corner of my eye whilst scanning me briefly up and down. This guy is too attractive. “I guess we can go to mine, it should be empty.”

I unlock the door to an empty house. Like the gentleman he is, he slips his shoes off just to the side. “What shall we do?” He asks with bright eyes. “Hungry?” His response is obviously.

We decide to make some cakes - which isn’t exactly what I mean by food but it’s a lot nicer anyway. By ‘we’ I mean me. I weigh out all the ingredients while he just observes. “Are you gonna help?” I ask with a slight chuckle. “I’m actually alright just watching you,” he bites his lip after his words. “That’s creepy Montgomery.” “Hearing you say my full name turns me on,” my face goes from normal to very red. His face remains serious too, other than a smirk forming slowly. I ignore him (as much as I can) and go back to pouring the ingredient into one bowl and mixing. It only takes seconds before I feel his body directly behind mine. I feel as his fingers creep towards my waist, and his head slowly sinking to my level. I refuse to get distracted by him and continue mixing, and his lips proceed to my neck. Holy shit. He kisses it once, then twice, then an open mouth one. As he begins sucking and nibbling, my hand (as if a reflex) goes to the back of his head. I spin myself to face him. My eyes scan him as I breathe slightly heavier than usual. A few seconds of silence. “Fuck you,” is all I can whisper before wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him passionately. He slides the bowl from behind me and lifts me onto the counter. Although his body is as close as it can be right now, it remains not close enough. Our tongues battle and glide through each other’s mouths. It takes no time for me to realise how much I need him. I’ve been fooling myself all this time. When I grab the bottom of his shirt, this time I remove it as fast as I can. Wow. I take a second to absorb it all it. “It’s rude to stare,” he grunts, his hands smoothing my thighs up and down slowly. I look down at them, and look back up to his eyes. The sensation going through my body was phenomenal. He hasn’t even touched me yet. I grab the top of his trousers and pull him closer to me. Starting from his lips, I lay kisses down. Across to his cheek, down to his neck, and a few down his chest. I feel his heartbeat become irregular. The most attractive thing in the moment was the very apparent wait for the okay. His eyes scan my body, just like I did, except he has nothing to admire. Me on the other hand? Wow. The only signal I can send him is by unbuckling his belt. A sort-of glow forms in his eyes before finally moving.

My thong gets dropped on the floor near by. The guilt comes from me wearing my favourite underwear today, but I now have nothing to feel guilty about. Well... not this. I want to be here. I watch as he kneels down to floor, his face opposite my heat. Desperate for his touch. The breath that left his mouth became more and more fierce as he came close and closer, before finally making contact. His mouth wraps around my clit. I send my head back and my hand pushes to the back of his head once again. “Oh shit,” I breathe out in a moan. His hands wrap around my thighs, pulling my body closer to his mouth. My moans try to remain retained, which was a lot harder than I imagined. I just moan louder and louder ad he continues eating me out. As his tongue laps all over, I already feel like letting go. Not yet. I pull him up, shutting his confused look up with my mouth on his. My hands fumble at his belt again, but his large hands stop mine in their tracks. He pulls his lips off mine, our noses still keeping contact. “I need you,” I whisper. I feel as a deep breath leaves his mouth onto mine. “Trust me, I need you. But not here,” and with that he picks me up with one arm under my knees and the other hooked under my arms. As he somehow starts carrying me up the stairs, I get caught up in the moment. “Shit it’s like we just got married,” I smile and chuckle to show I’m joking. The smirk, the eyes, the everything on his face. “I’ll marry you,” I collapse my head on his shoulder, shaking it slightly. “Fuck,” I whisper, lifting my head and pushing my lips on his when we get to the top.

Being thrown on my own bed is the single most attractive thing I’ve ever experienced. He kneels between my slightly spread legs. Sitting up, I attach my lips to his chest, kissing ball the way up to finally being back on his lips. The kiss pulls his body down onto mine. The stupid belt is finally removed and I start to pull his trousers down and off. Naked. Montgomery De La Cruz is knelt slightly in front of me putting a condom on his dick while I shuffle in under my covers. I didn’t think we’d get here. Well... not this soon. “I thought staring was creepy,” his voice speaks, low and sexy. I wish the smirk wasn’t so natural to him. Most guys do it and it’s not it at all. He does it and... “No. Saying you were fine watching me was creepy. I’m just- admiring?” I suck in my bottom lip, nibbling at it just a little for him to notice. “Okay I’ll let you off,” he throws the covers over him, his face coming extremely close to mine yet not touching. My legs, as if by reflex, spread a little more when his tip brushes against the inside of my thigh. My heart races more. “If you wanna stop just tell me,” is the only thing he could’ve said to both calm me and get me more flustered inside. I nod. He starts to enter himself inside me - quite slowly and carefully - stopping until I give him another nod. Although I’m not a virgin, the discomfort was still there a bit. I cup his face with my hand, stroking his cheek with my thumb. I trail it down to his lips where he kisses it once. He freezes inside me for a few seconds once his length is fully inside me. “Okay,” I nod, pulling his face down onto mine before he pulls out slowly to push back in. I try not to moan already. He slips his tongue into my mouth, swirling and crashing it with mine mid moan. His lips kiss down to my chin, which is when his hand lifts my leg up and out. As my breathing hitches more, nibbles go across my neck to my ear. Woah. He takes my ear lobe between his teeth, pulling it down. That’s something I’ve never felt before. “Moan for me,” pillow talk is another thing I’ve never experienced, which leads me to grunt rather loudly. Mid-moan his lips reattach themselves to mine. I let my hands grip his back. My aim was to pull him closer to me, but all I do is scratch down his back. At first I feel bad, then I hear the moan from Monty that followed. That was me done. “Fuck,” I let out in his mouth. The pace is increased more, my arms wrap around his neck - almost hugging him into me. A hand grips my waist as if to say ‘I know you’re close’. I am. I so am. Holding back was in my plans. I spread my fingers through his hair as I begin to let go. “Monty,” I squeak between our lips. A release I’ve been waiting for, with the guy I think I’ve been needing. Once again, Monty’s thrusts increase one last time, this time for his own climax. The twitch inside me finished my frenzy around him. All that was left between us was sweat and heavy breathing.

I lay, my head on his chest, with his arm thrown around me like in the movies. The fingers on our hands intertwined together in an unsolvable puzzle. Chatting as if it was normal what we just did. It is normal. It feels normal. Which is the weird thing. “When’s your mum coming home?” He asks, placing a kiss on the back of my hand. “She’s working a night shift tonight, so you can stay if you’d like,” those aren’t exactly the words I wanted to say. “I should probably go home, my dad-“ “Please stay. I want you to stay,” I stop him with the words I truly meant to stay. Imagine staying overnight with a boy? True heaven I imagine. Especially since that guy is Monty. I tilt my head up to look him in the eyes. His lips, still soft and kind, place themselves on my lips again after letting out an ‘okay’. And suddenly it’s another makeout session. I know exactly where this is going to go. I’m gonna - if I’m not already - fall too hard for Montgomery De La Cruz.

[writingstufff1]

PRETTY LIES || REGGIE MANTLE x OC 

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Pairings: Reggie Mantle/Lydia Boyd (OC); slight Moose Mason/Lydia Boyd (OC)

Word Count: 87,257

Warnings: explicit sexual content, language, teen drug and alcohol use, crude/misogynistic language and humor, abusive and neglectful parents, fighting/violence, religious themes (Specific warnings can be found at the beginning of each chapter)

Author’s Note: This fic originated when I thought to myself, why the heck doesn’t anyone seem to care Midge is dead? followed quickly by and how did Reggie get off scot-free for trying to kill Fangs? This fic was the answer to those questions.  Set during the summer after Season 2, this fic is an AU that explores how things might have gone had Riverdale given these poor kids some closure.

Thanks to @rivendell101 for the lovely graphic!

Summary:

Pastor’s daughter Lydia Boyd has been best friends with Midge Klump her whole life.  When her best friend is brutally murdered in front of her very eyes, she is forced to reconsider everything she’s ever known to be true.  Lydia used to think she had it all figured out, that life made sense, but a newfound relationship forged by grief with bad-boy jock Reggie Mantle makes her consider the possibility that the framework of her entire existence might be no more than a pretty lie.

Reggie Mantle knows he fucked up.  He’s made more mistakes than he can possibly count, and now the world is falling apart around him.  From an innocent crush, to a desire to belong, to the only friends he ever had, everything is being ripped away. He doesn’t know how things managed to spiral so far out of control, but he knows that she makes him feel safe.

In a year filled with grief, longing, mistakes, hatred, and doubt, Lydia and Reggie rediscover themselves and learn what it means not only to love unconditionally, but to allow yourself to be loved back.

Preview:

“Lydia,” Reggie asked, unsure if he could trust his eyes. “Is that wine?”

“Sure is,” she replied, unscrewing the top. “The finest off-brand communion wine.” Sighing she leaned back against the wall, her arm brushing against his. “Sometimes, when I feel like absolute shit, I snag some and come up here to get away.”

Reggie watched as she took the first sip of wine.  For a girl that was supposed to be the perfect little pastor’s daughter, she was sure full of surprises.  It wasn’t until she set the jug down and gave him a pointed look that Reggie realized he was staring.  Swallowing hard, he picked up the jug and downed a sip—it was possibly the cheapest wine he had ever tasted, but the effect it had on his headache was near-immediate. “What are you getting away from?”

“Mostly the crippling realization that my best friend is dead, but also my dad sometimes.”

Reggie’s eyes widened, and he attempted to sputter out a reply.  Before he could, though, she started laughing.

“Jeez, man, I was kidding.” She grabbed the wine and took another sip. “My parents are just a lot sometimes.”

“I get that.” Reggie exhaled slowly, running his hand through his hair and doing his best to keep his eyes fixed on the view instead of Lydia. “I really get that.”

“Want to talk about it?” She turned those piercing green eyes on him, and his heart started thudding. “You seem like the king of repressed issues.”

He scoffed, looking away before her eyes sucked him any deeper. “That may be true, but you’re definitely the queen.”

“Oooh, touché, you got me.” She passed him the wine, and her skin felt hot against his when he grabbed the jug. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

READ THE COMPLETED FIC ABOVE ON A03 NOW

[writingstufff1]

Reblog if you ship Jeronica!

I need more jeronica blogs to follow <3333

[writingstufff1]

Pastor’s daughter Lydia Boyd has been best friends with Midge Klump her whole life.  When her best friend is brutally murdered in front of her very eyes, she is forced to reconsider everything she’s ever known to be true.  Lydia used to think she had it all figured out, that life made sense, but a newfound relationship forged by grief with bad-boy jock Reggie Mantle makes her consider the possibility that the framework of her entire existence might be no more than a pretty lie.

Reggie Mantle knows he fucked up.  He’s made more mistakes than he can possibly count, and now the world is falling apart around him.  From an innocent crush, to a desire to belong, to the only friends he ever had, everything is being ripped away. He doesn’t know how things managed to spiral so far out of control, but he knows that she makes him feel safe.

In a year filled with grief, longing, mistakes, hatred, and doubt, Lydia and Reggie rediscover themselves and learn what it means not only to love unconditionally, but to allow yourself to be loved back.

READ CHAPTER NINETEEN ABOVE ON A03

Preview:

“Reggie, what the hell are you doing here?”

He tried to pull his lips into a smile, but it fell flat. “You know, just thought we could…” He trailed off—Josie knew him well enough to put it together.

Her eyebrows rose, and she shook her head. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me, Mantle.  Are you really trying to get with me right now?”

“Maybe?” The word sounding more like a question than an answer, and he immediately regretted it.

“You’re such an idiot.” Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “Clearly, you’re out of your mind.” Sighing she pulled open the door and gave him a look. When he just stared back blankly, she gestured for him to come in.

“I thought—wasn’t that a no?”

“Yeah, it was, but you still need me right now, dude, so come in.”

Reggie didn’t argue as he ducked into the house.  No one else appeared to be home as she led him up the stairs to her bedroom.  Once the door was shut, she hopped onto the bed and gestured for him to sit on the desk chair.  He sat with a sigh and looked up at her.  Tonight was absolutely not going according to plan.

If you’d like to be notified when a new chapter is posted, please subscribe on A03!

[writingstufff1]

Pastor’s daughter Lydia Boyd has been best friends with Midge Klump her whole life.  When her best friend is brutally murdered in front of her very eyes, she is forced to reconsider everything she’s ever known to be true.  Lydia used to think she had it all figured out, that life made sense, but a newfound relationship forged by grief with bad-boy jock Reggie Mantle makes her consider the possibility that the framework of her entire existence might be no more than a pretty lie.

Reggie Mantle knows he fucked up.  He’s made more mistakes than he can possibly count, and now the world is falling apart around him.  From an innocent crush, to a desire to belong, to the only friends he ever had, everything is being ripped away. He doesn’t know how things managed to spiral so far out of control, but he knows that she makes him feel safe.

In a year filled with grief, longing, mistakes, hatred, and doubt, Lydia and Reggie rediscover themselves and learn what it means not only to love unconditionally, but to allow yourself to be loved back.

READ CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ABOVE ON A03

If you’d like to be notified when a new chapter is posted, please subscribe on A03!

[writingstufff1]

darling, dearest, dead | interlude one

Title: darling, dearest, dead

Rated: M (language, violence, sex, character death)

Words: 1.5K

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Jones!OC

Summary: Sweet Pea stares at her for a moment longer, fingers curling at his sides, as if he wants to touch her but knows he can’t. Not really, anyway. “You’re going to have to let me go,” he says, so much softer than she’s ever heard him before. His throat bobs with a harsh swallow, his dark eyes locking with hers. “You have to let me go, Sweetheart.”

She shakes her head, eyes squeezing shut tightly. Her throat goes tight, eyes itching and rimmed red. “I can’t,” she tells him. Fingers ghost against her cheek, close and cold and coaxing her to look at him again, and when she finally opens her eyes Sweet Pea smiles down at her, a broken little thing.

AKA: The Orpheus and Eurydice Retelling no one asked for.

Chapters: One | Interlude One | Two | Interlude Two | Three

AN: This fic has been over a month in the making and I’m so excited to finally be sharing it with everyone! This fic is also available over on AO3 (link removed because tumblr sucks) if that will be easier to read! This is a long chapter, so settle down somewhere and get comfortable!

“How long were you and dad together before you gave him your heart?” Jubilee asks her mother as they’re sitting across from one another on the floor of the home she grew up in. The two of them are weaving wreaths of holly in preparation for the coming Hunter’s Moon, a tribute to the Old Gods. She tucks her legs beneath her, peeking up at her mother over the dark leaves in her lap.

Gladys hums, not taking her eyes off her own wreath. “Not until I left for Toledo,” she answers eventually, a fond smile curling at her lips. “He never really believed in the old legends. Not until after you and your brother were born.” Jubilee nods, fiddling with a group of red berries, rolling them between her fingers as her mother continues. “Even then I don’t think he quite understood them, but he tried. I thought he would cry when I gave him the bauble.”

Jubilee grins. “You’ve never talked about it.” Gladys has always been careful with what she’s told her children about the pagans in Riverdale and the old myths surrounding them. There was a time when the town was bloodier, darker, a shadow creeping through the hearts of those who lived there. The old traditions can be violent, unhinged, but painfully beautiful. It wasn’t until Jubilee was older that Gladys began teaching her the old ways, giving her a choice.

There’s something savage and sweet about the Old Religion, something bloody and raw but so, so alive. It’s primal, carnal and sensual, of the flesh, and also mystical. There’s power in the old ways.

“Not much to talk about.” Gladys waves her off, glancing up from her wreath. “Jubilee, why are you asking me about…” she trails off as suddenly as she starts, hazel eyes going wide as she stares at her daughter. The wreath is placed gently onto her lap, a look of wonder in her eyes. “You’re going to give up your heart,” Gladys murmurs, and there’s something disapproving there, because Jubilee is young and wild and reckless, and the heart is a fragile, foolish thing.

And for a worshiper of the Old Gods the heart is sacred. Once given it can never be taken back. A promise of forever.

Jubilee only smiles back at her mother. “It’s already his,” she tells her, eyes alight with joy. “Maybe it always has been.” She can’t remember a time when she didn’t love Sweet Pea. He’s always been there, at her side through it all, making her feel absolutely weightless and grounding her all at once. Giving him her heart was never meant to be a choice, only a gentle, inevitable thing.

It’s always been him, even when she didn’t know it. Even when she was too afraid to say it.

Gladys stares at her for a long moment, expression softening as she sees something in Jubilee that she can’t put a name to. “He could break it,” she warns her daughter, but there’s no bite to her tone. It’s little more than a gentle reminder, a caveat. She has to keep her heart safe.

“He won’t,” Jubilee promises, knowing it’s protected with him. Always.  

“How do you know?”

“It’s Sweet Pea,” she says, like it’s that simple, and maybe it is. Because if she can’t trust her heart with him, she can’t trust it with anyone. Because she knows he would never hurt her.  

The Hunter’s Moon celebration comes and goes, and October bleeds into November, Sweet Pea’s upcoming birthday leaving her jittery, excited and a little nervous. She’s kept her heart in a box in their dresser, carefully tucked away in the corner where he wouldn’t look. There’s a kind of heaviness that’s settled in her chest, a longing ache that she isn’t sure how to quell. It dims at night, with his arms coiled around her and his heartbeat thrumming against her ear, and she isn’t sure if that ache is something missing inside her or if her heart is swollen in her chest and ready to burst.

He makes her feel so very alive, even more so than the longing in her for Fox Forest.

Sweet Pea comes home late the morning of his birthday, just after two, exhausted from a run to Centerville with Fangs and Joaquin, and finds her nestled into the couch, wrapped up in one of his old sweaters and waiting for him, flicking through the pages of a book she’s read a dozen times. A calmness washes over them both as their eyes connect, a beautiful smile breaking out across her face as he kicks off his shoes and crosses the room to her. Jubilee giggles as he scoops her into his arms, lips on her jaw and cheek and chin, wherever he can reach as her arms wrap around him in return.

Her book drops onto the couch, legs winding tight around his waist as he lifts her up. Jubilee’s fingers run through his hair, gently tugging him down as her lips find his, meeting him in a sweet kiss that makes them both sigh.

She doesn’t say a word as his hands hook beneath her bare thighs, Sweet Pea carrying her towards their room with practiced easy and kicking the door shut behind them. His lips trail along her jaw, finding the sweet spot that makes her melt against him. Sweet Pea drops down onto their bed, holding her over his lap, hands running along her sides beneath her sweater, wanting to feel her against him.

Jubilee pulls away from him slowly, fingers curling around his wrists and pulling his greedy hands from her skin. He stares up at her, dark eyes searching hers and Sweet Pea relaxes when he sees nothing but love in her eyes. “I have something for you,” she whispers against him, sliding from his lap without a word.

He groans low in his throat as she leaves him warm and wanting, walking backwards to the dresser against the wall. “You didn’t have to get me anything, Baby,” he murmurs, fondness swelling in his chest as she pulls a small box from one of the drawers.

She returns to him quickly, settling back over his lap, his big hands coming to rest on her hips, squeezing gently, lazy fingers drawing circles against her thighs, pulling her closer. Jubilee holds the box out to him, silver exterior glinting faintly in the low lighting. “Open it.”

Gingerly, he takes the box from her hands. It’s light to the touch, and his big fingers fumble with the ribbon curled around it holding the top on securely. She giggles as he struggles, and he shoots her an annoyed look that’s soothed by her lips pressing to his in a fleeting kiss that leaves him breathless.

Finally, he manages to work the box open, soft tissue paper covering the object within. Sweet Pea moves it aside, a frown settling onto his mouth when he sees a small, glass sphere nestled into the box. It’s a tiny thing, pale and silver like the box, and he cradles it in his palm. The glass bauble looks fragile against the calluses on his skin, smooth and partially transparent, so breakable that it scares him.

“Jubilee?” he murmurs, confused. Because it’s breakable, beautiful, delicate, the glass tinted silver with tiny, green vines swirling along the sides in sweeping curves. His eyes narrow, peering closer, and there’s a coiled knot of twine inside the globe. His heart seizes when he sees it, and the bauble nearly slips from his fingers when the realization wracks through him, griping him like a vice.

He knows the stories, from her, from his mother, from the whispers of the other pagans in Riverdale. How pagans give their souls, their beating hearts to their lovers to keep safe. He knows weight that carries, how much it means to her to do this, to trust him like this. Sweet Pea’s throat goes tight, fondness swelling in his chest as his eyes snap up to meet hers.

“Jubilee,” he whispers again, a breathy sound leaving him. His mouth moves, but nothing else escapes him, the words sticking in his throat as he cradles the bauble close to him.

Jubilee brings his free hand to her lips, kissing his fingers and then his palm and he cups her cheek, thumb smoothing across her soft skin. She leans into him, tears welling in her eyes at the raw emotion splayed across his face, Sweet Pea so vulnerable it makes her chest ache. “It’s yours now,” she tells him, breath sweet against his lips. She leans in, pressing her forehead against his. Sweet Pea’s hand slides from her cheek around her back, pulling her tighter against his chest. Her hands cradle his strong jaw, a shuddering breath fanning over his lips. “It’s always been yours.” Her heart has belonged to Sweet Pea longer than it was ever her own.

He releases a quivering exhale, palm flush against her back, eyes slipping shut as her fingers stroke down his cheeks. “What if I break it?”

Jubilee shakes her head, pressing herself tight against his torso, no space left between them. “You won’t.”

[writingstufff1]

Title: darling, dearest, dead

Rated: M (language, violence, sex, character death)

Words: 16.5K

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Jones!OC

Chapters: One | Interlude One | Two | Interlude Two | Three

Chapter Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1tsVkfDxV286D9mK9ErgWQ (copy/paste the link because tumblr sucks)

AN: This fic has been over a month in the making and I’m so excited to finally be sharing it with everyone! This is a long chapter, so settle down somewhere and get comfortable!

[writingstufff1]

Masterlist

Riverdale

Jeronica

An Unnecessary Secret:  Moodboard  Prologue  Chapter One  Chapter Two  Chapter Three

13 Reasons Why

Scott Reed

Drunk Club: Part One  Part Two  Part Three

The Locker Neighbour

The Interruption

[writingstufff1]

An Unnecessary Secret - Chapter Two

Jughead x Veronica

A/n: Hi everyone! This has been my favourite chapter to write so far and I am really liking how the story is coming along! As usual, this fic will be on ao3 as well. Hope you all enjoy!!

Word Count: 3507

Fangs had gotten way too drunk as usual and since Sweet Pea had left with some girl and Toni was working, Jughead was left to walk him home. Jughead had just wanted to play pool and then come home early to get some writing done but typically, things did not go his way. Fangs had a tendency to wander off in his current state and so Jughead had to make sure that he got back to his trailer in one piece. Conveniently, Fang’s trailer was located adjacent to Jughead’s and he had just started to get him up the steps when Fangs started talking.

“God, Fangs can you just shut up for two minutes while I get you inside,” Jughead said irritated.

Fangs shook his head and pointed behind Jughead. “Veronica, hi it's Fangs.”

Jughead turned around with his mouth wide open. She laughed and started walking in their direction.

“Have a bit too much to drink, did we Fangs?”

“No, you did,” he replied before promptly falling down the steps Jughead had just hauled him up.

Jughead picked him and put his arm around his shoulder. “Okay, big man let’s get you inside.”

He settled Fangs on the couch and put a glass of water on the table.  Fangs immediately started snoring. Jughead rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. He could hear Veronica laughing at the pair of them outside. He wondered why she was at his trailer and joined her outside.

“So, Veronica, not to be rude but, why are you here?”

“It’s movie night!” she exclaimed, holding up popcorn and some snacks.

“It’s what now?”

“Movie night! I actually called you a few times but I guess your phone is off,” she said, taking her phone out of her pocket.

He shrugged. “Yeah, I was at the Wyrm.”

“I thought as much.” She laughed.

He hadn’t made any movement in her direction and she shook her head.

“God Jughead, don’t look so shocked, we’re just hanging out.”

She laughed and walked to his door. “Are you not gonna let me in?”

Jughead moved past her and opened the door. She immediately swept in, surveying the area. He cringed inwardly. He had forgotten that Veronica was a Lodge for a second. He braced himself for the inevitable comment on how small it was.

“Can’t believe I’ve never been here before,” she said settling herself on the couch. “I mean we’ve been friends what? Two years and I’ve never been in your house, that’s a bit weird.”

Jughead managed a nod as a response. He got a bowl for the popcorn and handed Veronica his laptop. He sat at the other side of the couch and wiped his palms on his knees. Veronica rolled her eyes and moved to sit beside him.

“Don’t be ridiculous, how the hell are you going to see from there?”

She put the laptop on the table and indicated that it was his choice. He settled on a thriller that he had seen before but that he reckoned Veronica would enjoy. She swung her legs up on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder. Halfway through the film, he decided to ask the question he had been thinking about since he saw her waiting on his doorstep.

“Didn’t you have a date tonight?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh yeah, I cancelled.”

He raised his eyebrows questioningly. “For movie night with me?”

“Sure, Jug. I’m not even sure I like Reggie that much.”

He frowned, confused. He had spent the week leading up to her date with Reggie hearing about how great Reggie was. Oh, Reggie thinks he can go to college on a football scholarship. Oh, you know, Reggie is actually really smart. Jughead had scoffed at the time and Veronica had smacked him with her purse. He considered asking Veronica why she had cancelled on her date, but the moment had passed and Veronica had focused her attention back on the film.

After another twenty minutes of the film, Veronica had fallen asleep. Jughead could hear her breathing softly. It wasn’t too late so he figured he could leave her there for a few minutes before dropping her home. He closed his laptop and draped a blanket over her. He had just finished washing the dishes when he heard FP’s keys in the lock. FP opened the door and upon spotting Jughead, opened his mouth to speak. Jughead immediately shushed him, gesturing towards Veronica.

“Sorry Dad, she just showed up.”

“No worries pal, I just forgot my wallet,” FP whispered, looking at him suspiciously.

Jughead averted eye contact, choosing instead to look for the wallet. He found underneath the newspaper on the kitchen table and handed it to FP without looking at him. FP put a hand on his shoulder and Jughead turned around to face him.

“Is there something going on between you and the Lodge girl?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jughead replied, shaking his head at the thought.

Veronica stirred and sat up. “Hey FP. How are you?”

“I’m good Veronica, it’s nice to see you,” he said, laughing as he left the trailer.

She yawned widely and stretched. “God, what time is it? I wasn’t asleep for too long, was I?”

“Nah, you were only asleep for about fifteen minutes.”

“I should probably get home though.”

Jughead nodded. “Yeah, I’ll drop you.”

Veronica put on her jacket and Jughead noticed she was wearing jeans instead of her usual skirt and top ensemble. Jughead handed her the helmet she usually used. They got on the bike and settled into their usual position. It felt almost natural to the pair. It was quite dark by now and the streets were almost empty considering it was the middle of summer. When they reached the Pembroke, Veronica got off the bike and handed him back the helmet. After a moment of consideration, Jughead gave it back to her.

“Keep it.”

“Keep it? Why?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

He blushed. “I mean you have been using it a lot, it would just be more convenient.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Convenient… right.”

Jughead shrugged. “Whatever.”

She rolled her eyes and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow Jug.”

He grinned at her and she went inside. He got on the bike and went home. Later that night when FP came home Jughead avoided all questions explaining that he had a lot of writing to catch up. FP laughed at his feeble attempt at distraction. Jughead went to bed and dreamed of a girl with dark hair.

Veronica was working the next day when Jughead arrived at around lunchtime. She came running out of the kitchen to see him. She ran into him and hugged him, almost knocking him off his feet.

“Wow Veronica, hey.”

“So, new plan: we are going clubbing tonight with Fangs, Sweet Pea, Cheryl and Toni,” she told him as she stepped back.

“Yeah, okay,” he replied, nodding his head.

“I think it’ll be super fun and we don’t have to stay long if-” she paused. “Wait did you just say yes?”

“Yeah, I mean why not?” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

“Oh my God, this is so great!” she screeched, practically leaping on him. “I will see you tonight!”

She disappeared into the kitchen again and Jughead was left with his thoughts. He sat down and ordered fries from Pop. Jughead took his laptop out and started working on his novel. He didn’t get much work done but found himself thinking about the night out. It should be fun, right? I mean it might be a little weird hanging out with Veronica with other people there, but it probably won’t be too bad. At least that’s what he hoped.

After Veronica had left to get ready and had kissed him on the cheek he decided to stay and do a little more work. He had just about finished another chapter when Archie walked in, with Josie trailing not so far behind him. Jughead looked on in disbelief as they sat down together. He supposed that he better go over and say hello. He put his stuff away and stood up to walk over. From this angle, he could see Archie’s hand on Josie’s leg. He couldn’t believe that Archie was doing this to Veronica. There was no way he was going over to him now. Instead, he left the diner, ignoring Archie calling after him. There was no way that was Jughead’s old best friend. He didn’t recognise the Archie he saw in there. There was nothing to do but look forward to the night ahead.

The boys had decided to arrive early to start the night off right. They were currently sitting at the bar of the nightclub where Jughead was restraining from rolling his eyes at the bullshit story Sweet Pea was spouting. They had gotten in using fake ids Fangs had gotten them and Jughead was surprised that the bouncer hadn’t asked too many questions. Although looking back on it, Sweet Pea was a pretty intimidating person to most people so that was probably why. They were two drinks in and Sweet Pea was already getting loud. Jughead ordered another beer and zoned back in to pay attention to Fang’s story about some joke he had made in biology that a girl had laughed at. He was just taking another sip of the beer when the girls walked in. He almost choked on his drink. Veronica was wearing a black, velvet, bodycon dress which clung to her in all the right places.

“Jesus Jughead, pick your jaw up off the floor,” Fangs said, swinging around in his chair to greet the girls.

“Yeah keep yourself together, man or she’ll notice,” Sweet Pea laughed, clapping Jughead on the back.

“Shut up, its whatever.”

He turned back to his drink. The girls came over, interrupting his peace. Cheryl announced that they were doing shots and bought them all two shot glasses of Sambuca each. Jughead hesitated to drink his shot but when Veronica smiled at him and clinked her glass against his, he threw it back without registering the taste.

“So, Jug how did the writing go today?” Veronica asked.

Jughead blushed. “Actually, pretty well, thanks for asking.”

“Am I ever going to be allowed to read this novel?” She said, leaning closer to him.

Jughead moved forward to whisper in her ear. “If I showed you I’d have to kill you.”

She tipped her head back with laughter and sat forward in her stool to peer at the back of the club.

“If I’m not mistaken, that is a free booth,” she told him.

She gave him a mischievous smile before making her way through the crowd with Cheryl and Toni in tow. Sweet Pea and Jughead followed behind them, but Fangs was nowhere to be seen.

“I see we’ve lost a serpent,” Cheryl said as they all sat down.

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes. “I saw him go off with some college guy at the bar.”

Surprisingly, Jughead found himself having fun. It was always interesting to see Sweet Pea drunkenly ranting about how awful Reggie was and to see Cheryl and Toni’s not so subtle under the table flirting. And Veronica. He was really enjoying talking with Veronica. They had been talking about the most recent time Veronica had gotten caught sneaking out when he realised that Sweet Pea had never come back with their drinks. He was hypnotised by how animated Veronica was as she told them all how she had been clambering down the drainpipe. Jughead figured Sweet Pea’s safety was probably higher on the priority list so he made his excuses and went in search of him at the bar. The barman asked for his order and Jughead shook his head.

“No, thanks. I’m actually looking for my friend. Tall, dark hair, neck tattoo?”

The barman jerked his head in the direction of the door. “Think he’s gone outside, Liv’s on her break.”

“Great, thanks.” Jughead slapped his hands on the counter and started to make his way over.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go out there, pal. They were flirting pretty hard when I last saw them.”

Jughead shuddered. So, that was a lost cause. He thanked the barman and made his way back to the booth. Cheryl was on Toni’s lap as they both pretended to listen to Veronica. It was clear they just wanted to be alone so Jughead invited Veronica to go outside with him. She agreed, looking visibly relieved. He took her hand and lead her through the throngs of people. They got to the outside balcony where it was quieter and more relaxed. There was softer music playing and many people were just sitting talking. Jughead went to the edge of the balcony and lit up a cigarette.

“I didn’t know you smoked?”

“Well, being in the serpents is a pretty stressful job.”

“Does Betty know you smoke?” she asked, raising her eyebrows teasingly.

“Betty doesn’t know everything,” he said wincing.

“Hit a soft spot, have I?”

“Yeah, something like that,” he muttered.

Veronica just laughed. Jughead watched as she leaned out over the balcony.

“It’s so wild, you can see all of Greendale from here,” she remarked.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

Veronica grabbed his shoulder and pointed. “Look, there’s Pop’s!”

He nodded, barely registering the scene. He grabbed hold of her to steady her as she stood on her tiptoes. She stood back and looked back in the direction of the club.

Jughead deflated. “Do you want to go back inside or?”

“Let’s dance!”

Jughead coughed in surprise and dropped his cigarette. “I’m not exactly a great dancer, Veronica.”

She smiled and grabbed his hand. “Oh, pfft, who cares? Everyone is drunk anyway.”

He shrugged and made a noncommittal noise. She rolled her eyes. “We can just dance here.”

Jughead swallowed. “Okay.”

She put her arms around his neck and he rested his hands on her waist. She put her head on his chest. They danced slowly on the balcony of the nightclub. It wasn’t dancing as much as it was glorified swaying. There weren’t many people outside at this stage of the night as the closing time was fast approaching. It almost felt like they were the only two people there. Jughead knew he was being ridiculous. But he couldn’t help it. His thoughts were interrupted by Veronica.

“God I really needed this, did you know apparently Archie and Josie are a thing now.”

“Yeah, I saw them at Pop’s earlier.”

She sighed. “It doesn’t matter I suppose, I’m over it anyway but it would’ve been nice of him to give me a bit of notice.”

Jughead pulled her closer and leaned his chin on her head. She sighed again. She buried her head in his chest. He moved his hand to put it on the small of her back. He could feel her breath, hot on his neck. The smell of her perfume was the only thing he could think of. Chanel. It was so distinctly Veronica. Another set of people disappeared inside and could feel his heartbeat accelerating. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to say it, he assumed it was the beer.

“You look beautiful tonight, Veronica,” he said so softly it was almost a whisper.

Veronica leaned back and made eye contact with him. She opened her mouth to reply but Sweet Pea tapped on Jughead’s shoulder. They sprang apart. She flicked her eyes to Jughead’s lips, so quick that Jughead thought he imagined it. She then turned her attention to Sweet Pea.

“Hey, is there something wrong?”

“Yeah, I just can’t find Fangs,” he slurred.

Jughead put his arm around him. “Okay, let’s go find him.”

They searched for about ten minutes before they found him lip-locked with some guy from Greendale. It took them another few minutes to convince Fangs that they were leaving, during which, Veronica decided to search for Cheryl and Toni. It turned out it was a fruitless search and they started the long walk home with Sweet Pea leaning on Jughead and Fang’s shoulders. Sweet Pea was vividly describing how his ‘talk’ with Liv the bartender had gone as they walked through into the trailer park. Veronica was walking ahead of them, but she turned around to glance every so often to roll her eyes. Unable to properly reply, he smiled back at her.

“Well, boys! I am going to make my way home!” she announced, curtseying and blowing kisses in their direction.

Jughead threw Sweet Pea’s arm from his shoulder, almost causing him to fall. “Hey, Veronica wait! I’ll walk you home.”

She waved him away and continued walking. “That won’t be necessary, I can take care of myself.”

He sped up to catch up with her, ignoring the not so subtle wink from Sweet Pea. He caught her elbow and she turned around to look at him.

“No, I want to.”

She beamed and took his hand. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Veronica got a mischievous glint in her eye.

“You know what I want to do?” Her eyebrow arched in question.

Jughead facepalmed. “Oh God, Veronica what?”

“My parents are out for the night, let’s break into the liquor cabinet!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air as if she had just won a prize.

Jughead rolled his eyes but heard himself agreeing. “You know, that actually sounds kinda fun if I’m being honest.”

She grinned deviously and lead him up the stairs after tiptoeing past the sleeping doorman. The place looked exactly as he remembered from the last time he had tried to make peace with Hiram almost a year and a half ago. He walked in the direction of the kitchen while Veronica busied herself with the alcohol. He had just found the glasses and set them down on the counter when Veronica’s head appeared at the door.

“What’s more expensive, whiskey or brandy?” she asked.

Jughead shrugged. “I have no clue.”

Veronica laughed playfully. “You know what? We’ll just try both.”

She disappeared for a minute and came back with two bottles of Hiram’s finest as she referred to them. She poured a glass of the whiskey for the two of them. She clinked her glass with him.

“To clubbing,” she toasted.

Jughead laughed and brought it up to his lips. They both took a sip and winced at the sharp taste.

“I’m getting notes of Satanism and unhappiness,” Jughead said confidently, pretending to swish it around in his mouth.

“Ah yes, I also taste the pain of the poor and lettuce.”

Jughead snorted. “Lettuce is that all you could think of? Really?”

Veronica punched him in the arm. “Hey! You have an unfair advantage considering you’re a writer and I haven’t gotten anything above a C in English this year.”

They both looked at each other in a serious manner before bursting into laughter. After they had calmed down and Veronica had safely restored the liquor to its rightful place, Veronica decided to give him the grand tour. She had been about to open the door to her room when Jughead decided it was too late for him to be in Veronica’s room.

“You know I should probably go-” Jughead started but he was interrupted by a key in the front door.

Veronica’s eyes widened in surprise and she ushered him toward her room. “You’re going to have to leave through the window, I’m not supposed to have people over while they’re gone,” she half whispered.

Veronica shut her door with a soft click and prayed that they wouldn’t come to see her before going to sleep. To her luck, they passed by her door and the noise disappeared into their room. Veronica breathed a sigh of relief and turned so her back was touching her door.

“Sorry, Jughead I still can’t risk you leaving through the door, they could still catch you.”

Jughead nodded sombrely. “Yeah, I get it. I should get down easily enough. I can use the drainpipe.”

Veronica made his way over to him as he sat on her window ledge. She took his hand.

“I’m really glad you came tonight, Jug.”

“Yeah, me too Veronica,” he told her seriously.

She leaned forward as if to kiss him on the cheek and Jughead closed his eyes. Her breath was hot on his face and Jughead could smell the sharp alcohol still on her breath. She planted an open-mouthed kiss on the corner of his mouth, leaving a faint smudge of dark berry lipstick. She leaned back and they both seemed to snap out of the daydream.

“I’ll see you soon, Veronica,” he said before slipping out of sight and disappearing into the night.

Veronica stood at the window for a moment longer. Why does everything feel weird? She came to the decision that it was probably the alcohol and went to get ready for bed.

[writingstufff1]

The Interruption

Scott Reed x Reader

A/n: This is another request that I got from a lovely anon! I will also be putting this fic on ao3. Hope you enjoy!!

Request: So happy you’re back! Can you do a Scott Reed imagine where one of the jocks walk in on the reader and Scott doing it and they all give the reader a hard time making comments but Scott quickly defends her and stands up to them?? Thank love you’re writing!

Warnings: Smut

Word Count: 910

Y/n was sprinting down the hallways of the school. She was worried she was going to miss him. There was nobody there since the school day was over. The baseball team had just finished practice and she wanted to catch her boyfriend, Scott before he left the school. She turned the corner and collided with someone.

“Zach, is Scott still here?” she asked, still out of breath.

“Yeah I think he’s still in the changing room”

“Great, thanks,” she said, pushing past him.

She heard Zach calling after her but she was focused on the task at hand: finding Scott. She burst into the changing room and the door hit the wall with a bang. Y/n’s eyes swept the room until she found herself staring at a very wide pair of blue eyes. She ran across to him and threw her arms around him.

“Baby, I’m so glad I found you!” she exclaimed. “I have some really exciting news!”

“That’s great, what is it?” he asked, holding her face.

“I got the internship!” she practically screeched.

“That’s so great, babe, congratulations.”

He pulled her closer and Y/n settled her face on his neck. He pulled back to look into her eyes. Y/n’s breath caught in her throat and she leaned forward to catch his lips between hers. Their lips moved in sync and Scott smiled against her lips. They broke apart and Scott started to kiss her neck. He peppered kisses against her collarbone and she moaned. Y/n practically ripped her shirt off and Scott did the same. They were both breathing heavily and Scott started kissing Y/n’s chest. He took off her bra and tossed it to the side.

“God, babe, you’re so beautiful.”

He took one of her breasts into his mouth and Y/n groaned. She moved to start undoing Scott’s belt when the door crashed open. Monty stood there with his mouth open. 

“Well Scotty, I did not expect to see this,” he said before bursting into laughter.

“Oh my God. Oh my God.”

Y/n jumped out of Scott’s arms and gathered up her things. She threw on her shirt and pushed past Monty who was still laughing. She was almost in tears.

Back in the changing rooms, Scott was furious. Monty was still laughing.

“Damn, Scotty. Didn’t know Y/n was a freak like that.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Scott said coldly, before leaving the room in a hurry.

He chased after Y/n and called after.

“Y/n, wait. Don’t leave yet!”

Y/n didn’t reply and rushed out of the building. This was the most embarrassing thing that had happened since she had started in high school. She didn’t know how she was going to face them tomorrow at lunch but decided to just see what Scott thought in the morning.

The next day Y/n woke up dreading the thought of school. She called Scott who reassured her that nobody would say anything and that everything would be fine. She shook off the feeling of unease and got ready. When Scott came to pick her up he was all smiles and Y/n found herself feeling a lot better. They drove into the parking lot and everyone ignored them as usual. She breathed a sigh of relief. The first classes before lunch went by without a hitch. It was lunch when everything started going to shit. Zach came up to her in the cafeteria line which was not unusual but, it was what he said that freaked her out.

“Hey, listen, Monty told me what happened yesterday.”

Y/n turned around in surprise.

“I told him not to tell anyone else but, I don’t know who else he told before that,” he continued.

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, I know I’m sorry, Y/n. I just thought I’d give you a head’s up,” he said before walking away.

Y/n stood there in shock for a few seconds before whipping around and running out of the cafeteria. Scott tried to catch her arm before she left the room but Y/n didn’t see him. She stood in the hallway with her back against a bunch of lockers. How the hell had this happened. Now all the boys were going to know she was a freak. She had no idea what to do. She heard footsteps in the hall and looked up to see Bryce and Monty approaching her.

“God, that cafeteria sure was long, wasn’t it?” Monty said mockingly.

“Yeah it sure was hard waiting all that time,” Bryce teased.

Y/n swallowed quickly and started to walk away. They came up beside her and y/n tried to walk faster.

“But you would know all about that wouldn’t you Y/n?”

Y/n feigned innocence. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Look, Monty saw you with Scotty yesterday. We didn’t know you could do stuff like that with your mouth baby,”

Bryce said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Y/n ripped her shoulder away.

“Shut the fuck up Bryce,” Scott said as he came around the corner. “Come on Y/n.”

He put an arm around her shoulder and lead her out to his car. Y/n hugged him for a few minutes while she calmed down.

“You know what, let’s skip school and go for ice cream,” Scott suggested, rubbing her shoulders.

“I’d love that.”

They both enjoyed their ice cream and at the end, Scott reassured her that he definitely wouldn’t be hanging out with either Bryce or Monty anymore. Y/n was relieved that everything was back to normal.

[writingstufff1]

An Update

Hi everyone! So I have fallen a bit behind schedule but the good news is that I should have some stuff posted within the next few days! Talk soon!!

[writingstufff1]

Love you’re writing! Can you do a sweet pea one where the reader is from the Northside and is quiet and a little reserved but her and sweet pea fall in love but he dines want to bring her into his world but the goulies find out about her and harass her but sweet pea gets really protective and realizes the best way to protect her is to be with her

Absolutely! I will put this on the list and start working on it as soon as possible! Thank you so much!

[writingstufff1]

An Unnecessary Secret - Chapter One

Jughead x Veronica

A/n: Happy New Year everyone! I actually got this done a lot quicker than I thought I would so I decided to do some extra editing. I will be putting this up on ao3 as well if anyone wants to read it there. Any advice would be appreciated as usual! Enjoy xx

Word Count: 3207

Jughead was late. He had promised he would meet Toni at Pop’s to look at her latest photography project. His alarm, unfortunately, had not gone off. The reason it had not gone off was that he had been too distracted by Veronica and had forgotten to set it. He cursed inwardly as he scrambled around the trailer trying to find a clean shirt. Toni was going to kill him. He was literally going to be murdered. He grabbed his laptop bag and left the trailer with his shoelaces still untied.

“Well Jones, I was starting to think you had forgotten,” Toni said teasingly.

“I’m so sorry Toni, my alarm didn’t go off this morning”

“Don’t worry about it, just have a look at these,” she told him, handing him a folder. “Thanks for helping me with this, by the way, Jones”

“It’s no problem at all T,” he said, taking the folder from her. “Besides, I always enjoy looking at your work. Even if it’s 90% photos of Cheryl”

“Shut up” she laughed.

Keep reading

[writingstufff1]

“If you could have it all, why do you want me?”

[writingstufff1]

Masterlist

Riverdale

Jeronica

An Unnecessary Secret:  Moodboard  Prologue  Chapter One  Chapter Two

13 Reasons Why

Scott Reed

Drunk Club: Part One  Part Two  Part Three

The Locker Neighbour

[writingstufff1]

An Unnecessary Secret - Moodboard

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know, I guess I just didn’t want it to end”

[writingstufff1]

An Unnecessary Secret - Chapter One

Jughead x Veronica

A/n: Happy New Year everyone! I actually got this done a lot quicker than I thought I would so I decided to do some extra editing. I will be putting this up on ao3 as well if anyone wants to read it there. Any advice would be appreciated as usual! Enjoy xx

Word Count: 3207

Jughead was late. He had promised he would meet Toni at Pop’s to look at her latest photography project. His alarm, unfortunately, had not gone off. The reason it had not gone off was that he had been too distracted by Veronica and had forgotten to set it. He cursed inwardly as he scrambled around the trailer trying to find a clean shirt. Toni was going to kill him. He was literally going to be murdered. He grabbed his laptop bag and left the trailer with his shoelaces still untied.

“Well Jones, I was starting to think you had forgotten,” Toni said teasingly.

“I’m so sorry Toni, my alarm didn’t go off this morning”

“Don’t worry about it, just have a look at these,” she told him, handing him a folder. “Thanks for helping me with this, by the way, Jones”

“It’s no problem at all T,” he said, taking the folder from her. “Besides, I always enjoy looking at your work. Even if it’s 90% photos of Cheryl”

“Shut up” she laughed.

Jughead pored over the folder for at least two milkshakes worth of time. He had comments for every photo and by the end, Toni was looking bored.

“You know what Jughead, I actually have to meet up with Cheryl. Maybe you can keep it for a while and just email me your thoughts?” she asked.

“Yeah, for sure Toni, I’m really impressed so far though”

“Thanks, Jughead”

She stood up to leave. “You should really talk to Veronica, she’s been staring over here for the last half hour” she added after a few seconds.

He looked up in surprise to see Veronica quickly look away. Shaking his head, he continued to leaf through the folder. There were hundreds of photos. He wondered how long it had taken Toni to put the project together. No doubt it had been in the works at least a few months. He reminded himself to ask her to put forward a few of the photos for the Blue and Gold. He spent the next hour typing out his comments before deciding to take a break. The second he closed the lid of his laptop Veronica appeared in the seat opposite him. 

“Jughead, I need to talk to you”

Jughead nodded and put his laptop back in his bag. “Sure, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to thank you for checking on me last night,” she said.

“Yeah, no problem, anytime”

“I also wanted to invite you to the party Reggie is having tonight”

Jughead was shocked. This was an unexpected turn of events. Not that he hadn’t been to parties before, he was long past his phase of having no friends. Plus, he was a part of the Serpents now and parties were practically in the job description. No, it wasn’t that, it was the fact that Veronica Lodge was personally inviting him.

“Oh, there’s no need for that”

“Nonsense, it’ll be fun” she assured him.

“Are you sure Reggie is okay with that?” he asked, hesitantly.

“Yes, absolutely. So, come pick me up at nine o’ clock at the Pembroke”

Jughead watched her walk away in disbelief. He wondered what on earth he had gotten himself into when he had decided that he should be nice to Veronica.

Jughead found himself overthinking an outfit for the first time in his life. He wasn’t sure how laidback the party was going to be and considering he was going with Veronica he supposed he should wear something fancier than usual. He was stuck between a white shirt that made him look like he was going to a dance and a black shirt that made him look like a waiter. A knock on his door made him spill his drink on the white shirt. Waiter it is. FP opened the door and Jughead whirled around. 

“What do you want?” he snapped.

“Nothing Jug, I was just wondering why you were talking to yourself”

“Sorry Dad, I’m a little stressed about this party”

FP chuckled and put his hands on Jughead’s shoulders. “Well you look great, have a good time”

Jughead had been waiting for fifteen minutes outside the Pembroke before Veronica made her way down. The doorman had looked at him like he was crazy when he had told him he was there for Veronica. He had kept Jughead waiting a few minutes while he spoke with Hermione about the party. Jughead decided to go wait at his bike. Veronica eventually opened the door and came outside. She was wearing a red dress that Jughead had never seen her in before. He didn’t know how he knew that.

“Well Jones, are we ready to go?”

“For sure, Lodge,” he said, pushing off his bike.

“Lord, I hope you do not expect me to get on that death contraption”

“Veronica, that is exactly what I expect you to do,” he said, handing her a helmet.

Veronica sighed and put on the helmet. “This better not ruin my hair”

Jughead laughed and got on the bike. Veronica sat behind him, she hesitated to put her hands around his waist. Jughead just put her hands around him. It only took them a few minutes to get to there but Veronica seemed to enjoy being on the bike. She tightened her grip around his waist and screamed in excitement. When they finally arrived at the party, Veronica took Jughead’s hand to lead him to the drinks. She handed him a cup of beer and laughed when he was surprised that she poured one for herself as well.

“What? Didn’t take me as a beer girl?”

“No, I guess I thought you were fancier than beer from a keg at a Reggie Mantle party, Lodge”

“Well, Jughead, you should know by now that I am full of surprises,” she said, grabbing his hand again to lead him around the party.

“That you are,” he murmured as he followed her.

They joined a game of beer pong at Reggie’s insistence. Jughead and Veronica were playing against Reggie and Midge. Jughead discovered he was actually pretty good at the game considering he had never played before. He tried to ignore the obviously flirty vibes between Veronica and Reggie and instead concentrated on beating him. Or winning the game. Midge caught his eye after another flirty comment from Reggie and rolled her eyes. Jughead returned the gesture but felt as though he was betraying Veronica by doing so. Jughead won another cup and he and Veronica celebrated by hugging excitedly. 

“Whatever, everyone knows you are way too good for this freak anyway, 

Veronica,” Reggie scoffed before turning and leaving the room.

“What the hell was that about?” Veronica asked, confused.

“I have no idea,” Jughead responded, equally puzzled.

“You know what, it’s late I should probably get home. Jughead can you give me a lift?”

Jughead nodded and they made their way out of the party. There were no complaints from Veronica to his surprise as she put on her helmet and got on the back of the bike again. They were almost halfway to Veronica’s when Jughead decided to make a quick detour.

“Wait, Jughead, where are you going?” Veronica demanded in his ear.

“Pop’s, I mean you are the owner and I could really do with a milkshake after the weirdness of that party”

Veronica laughed, and he could feel her breath on the back of his neck. He parked the bike and after taking the helmet from her, they went inside. She started to go behind the counter but Jughead grabbed her arm to stop her.

“I’ve got this. I used to work here you know and I can handle a milkshake and some fries”

“Thanks, Jug, it’ll be nice to have someone cooking for me for once”

“No problem. I think it’s better this way considering the last time you made me a milkshake there was a bit of a disaster,” he teased.

“Jughead!” she exclaimed, hitting him lightly in the arm.

He held up his hands in mock defeat and backed away. Veronica laughed at his surrender. She settled into one of the booths and put her feet up. Jughead set about making the fries first and once they were cooking he made the milkshakes. He set one down in front of Veronica and made himself comfortable. He looked at her lying there with her eyes closed.

“Whatchya thinking about Lodge?”

“Betty actually”

Jughead swallowed hard and kept his face neutral. “Why’s that?”

She opened her eyes and sat up quickly. “I have an idea! We should go visit Betty in New York”

She looked excited as she waited for a reply. Jughead couldn’t say no to her. 

“Well, I can’t think of a single reason why not,” Jughead said, smiling although it felt more like a wince. 

“Yes, this is going to be so great, we can do it like a road trip in August. It’ll be so nice for us to visit Betty, and I need to do some shopping so you two can get some alone time,” she said, winking. 

“Yeah, sure, whatever makes you happy,” Jughead answered, standing up. “Listen I’m going to check on the fries”

Veronica spent the rest of the time in the diner scheming and making plans for the road trip. Jughead sat in silence, eating. He tried to pretend he was excited but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. He supposed he was going to have to tell her about the breakup eventually but there was a light in her eyes that he hadn’t seen even in the last few months of her relationship with Archie. He figured he would reveal it when she was sufficiently distracted by some other project. So, he just smiled and nodded at the appropriate places.

The ride home was quiet as both of them were tired and Veronica was still a little tipsy. She was leaning her head against his shoulder. Jughead felt weird. First, she invites him to a party, then on a road trip and now she’s leaning on his shoulder as he drops her home. He had not expected his summer to go like this. They had never been the touchy sort of friends. Or even friends period. He shook it off the feeling as the bike came around Veronica’s street corner. 

“Well I’m glad you got home safe,” Jughead said, helping her get off the bike.

“Thanks for the lift Jug” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

Jughead almost stepped back in shock. He hadn’t been expecting a hug. His arms instinctively encircled her. 

“No problem, Lodge. See you tomorrow”

Veronica practically skipped up the steps to the building. She waggled her fingers at him before disappearing inside. Jughead shook his head at her antics and made his way home.

Veronica awoke the next day with a pounding headache. She groaned and tried to roll over but the other side of the room was where she had left the blinds open mistakenly last night. She started to get up to close them when her phone started ringing. The noise was deafening and she had no idea where she had left her phone. She practically fell out of the bed and threw her clothes around the room looking for it. After successfully locating under her dress from the previous night, she answered it to turn off the noise. She made a noise that sounded more like a groan than a greeting. 

“Wow, that bad is it?” a voice laughed on the other side of the phone.

“Jughead, what in god’s name do you want at this time in the morning” Veronica snapped, unimpressed with his amusement.

“Well actually, it’s nearly noon and you wanted to meet to discuss the road trip this morning”

Veronica cursed and leaned her head back, rubbing at her temples. She was in no state to make any plans.

“Oh shit, sorry I forgot about that”

There was a silence while she considered whether it was worth it to meet with him. Catching a look at herself in the mirror she decided there wasn’t a chance in hell.

“Can I cancel for today, I can barely open my eyes,” she told him apologetically. 

“Yeah for sure, see you soon Lodge”

Veronica ended the call and put her head in her hands. There was only one solution to this, shopping. Veronica took a pill and feeling a lot better, applied her makeup as immaculately as usual and curled her hair. Looking in the mirror one would never know that she had an awful hangover. She ignored her father calling after her as she left the house and elected to get breakfast out. After a few hours of retail therapy, she was feeling ten times better. She had almost finished her shopping when someone crashed into her and caused her to drop all of her bags. 

“You moron! What the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded, starting to pick up her bags.

“What do you mean what’s wrong with me-”

“Reggie?” Veronica cut him off.

“Oh, hey V, sorry about that,” he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Veronica just laughed. “So, what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much. Actually, Ronnie, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something”

“Yeah, go for it”

“Would you be interested in going out sometime? You know for food or something?”

“Yeah, I’d actually really like that Reg,” she said, tapping his shoulder.

Reggie smiled. “Great”

“I have to go unfortunately but text me the details” she called over her shoulder.

Before going to bed she called Jughead to tell him what had happened. She wasn’t sure why her first instinct was to call him but decided not to dwell on it. He answered after the second ring.

“Veronica, hi. Didn’t expect two calls in one day”

She laughed. “Yeah, well I have some exciting news”

“Pray tell”

“Reggie asked me out today,” she exclaimed excitedly.

There was silence for a few seconds. “Jughead? Are you there?”

“Yeah, that’s great Veronica.” He paused. “You know, I’m kinda swamped here but good luck with that”

Veronica grinned. “That’s okay. See you soon Jug”

The call ended abruptly. Veronica frowned and put her phone down. The call must’ve been cut off. She decided to text Reggie asking about the plans. Once they were solidified she lay down to go to sleep. She surprisingly wasn’t as excited about her date as she thought she would be. She assumed it was because she wasn’t entirely over Archie. 

“Well, maybe Reggie can help me with that,” she thought before drifting off to sleep.

When Reggie picked her up in his Dad’s car Veronica was excited. It felt different from getting picked up by Jughead on his bike. She had carefully selected an outfit that she knew Reggie would approve of and when his eyes raked over her body as he opened the door, she knew she had made a good choice. The dinner was expensive and Veronica didn’t order anything more than a salad as she wanted to impress Reggie. She had fun, although, Reggie wasn’t as funny as she’d remembered. 

“I enjoyed tonight, V,” he remarked as he dropped her off.

She smiled up at him. “Yeah me too, Reg”

He stepped closer to her. “We should do it again sometime”

“Yeah, maybe,” she heard herself replying although she felt uncertain.

He leaned in closer and moved to kiss her but Veronica moved her head so that he kissed her cheek. She put it down to nerves that she didn’t want him to kiss her. He smiled and moved back respectfully.

“Goodnight, Reg,” she said, softly before turning and entering her building.

Veronica tapped her fingers lightly against the counter of the diner. The place was almost entirely empty other than a few bulldogs and a mother with her baby. She was tired and bored but she had to wait to tell Jughead the good news. She looked at her watch again. Jughead was not following his regular schedule. It had been two days since she had last seen him in the last booth at Pop’s. He had ordered fries from Pop instead of her so they didn’t really get a chance to talk other than a hello from Veronica which he acknowledged with a grunt. Her date with Reggie the previous night had been fun and she was excited to tell Jughead about it. Cheryl and Toni had already heard all about it and Betty wasn’t returning her calls but she still wanted to talk about it more. The bell at the door rang and Veronica looked up from her hands to see the brooding boy she was looking for.

“Jughead! Thank God, I’ve been waiting for you all day”

“Veronica,” Jughead said, startled. “I thought you would’ve been gone by now”

“Wait, what? Jughead are you avoiding me or something?”

“Or something”

“Is this because I blew you off the other day when I had a hangover?” Veronica demanded, making her way around the counter to stand in front of him.

“I just assumed the road trip and everything was off since Reggie is your latest distraction”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know, I just thought-” he started.

“Yeah well don’t. Besides, I’m pretty sure Reggie doesn’t want anything more than a fling”

Veronica wasn’t sure why she said that but it came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

“Right, well fine I guess it’s back on then,” Jughead said trying not to show his relief but he couldn’t help the smile that crept up on his face.

Veronica clapped her hands excitedly. “Excellent. Now I assume you want some food”

Jughead nodded and she set about making food in the kitchen. She came back out and handed Jughead a glass of water before returning to the kitchen.

“So, tell me, how is Betty?” she called out.

Jughead nearly choked on his water. “Have you not been talking to her?” he sputtered.

“No, not really. She told me she was trying to concentrate on her internship,” she paused, narrowing her eyes. “She’s obviously still talking to her boyfriend, right?”

Jughead considered telling her the truth then and there but he was actually starting to look forward to the road trip and wanted to delay the inevitable. “Yeah, of course, we talk most days.” He did not meet Veronica's eyeline.

Veronica moved on then and started to talk about all the plans she had for the road trip. It turned out she had a lot of opinions on what snacks were appropriate for a road trip. Jughead gladly engaged in a conversation about food as he would most days. He left soon after that to go check on his Dad in the White Wyrm, leaving Veronica to lock up.

Veronica felt as though something was off after their conversation. She couldn’t quite put a finger on how she knew Jughead was hiding something, she just knew that he was acting strangely. Veronica Lodge wasn’t the kind of person to let something like this go and vowed to get to the bottom of the mystery.