Down by Sweetwater river was a little cave. It was Y/N's safe place. Covered by ivy and wild flowers in the spring, it was the fairytale spot she'd dreamed of as a child. It was her safe place, so she took Jughead.

It became their safe place. Just to sit, to think, to listen to the water of the river rush by, or the birds sing in the trees, or the leaves rustle in the trees. They'd carved their names into the wall: (Y/N)M + JJ. The bare face of the rock carried a reminder of their love.

Jughead looked at it now, and let another tear run down his face. The arrival of Y/N just brought back how broken he'd felt when she'd left.
He hugged his knees, angrily wiping away at his eyes. He heard footsteps approaching but didn't care. All he wanted was Y/N, Y/N to be here, but all he wanted was for Y/N to be far, far away.

Someone sat next to him. Close. They were touching.

"J-Jughead."

It was Y/N.

"Jughead, look at me." her voice broke. She'd been crying too.
Her hand softly tilted his chin upwards. He still looked down. "Please, Jughead!" she said, tenderly wiping the tears off his cheeks with her thumb. "I'm so so sorry."

"You -... You left me." he managed.

Y/N dropped her arm, eyes burning, holding in a sob. She couldn't cry now, she couldn't, but it was all she wanted to do.

"You left me, Y/N," he choked, standing up. "Broke me."

She stood up too.

"You left, and I was broken," he hissed. "Completely broken. You screwed me over. You can't, you can't just come back! And pretend everything's okay. Because it's not." Jughead finally met her eyes. "Nothing is okay, Y/N. This time, it's because of you." He spat and stormed out.

There were two that cried after that.

* * *

Archie wasn't sure what to say to Jughead. He'd come back an hour or so after he'd left Pop's, and hour or so after Y/N went to look for him.

Jughead had tried to hide the tears on his face and in his eyes, but Archie saw them.

He sighed, pushing the door open into his own room. Jughead was there, laying motionless on the bed. Staring at the ceiling. Archie sat on the edge of the bed, but Jughead didn't acknowledge him.

"Talk to me, Jug," he said simply. Jughead's face crumpled up and the tears welled up again.

"I yelled at her, Archie," he whispered. "She came to comfort me, but I yelled. I- I'm so angry, so happy, so sad, and I can't deal with it."

"You can fix this, Jughead. Just go and talk to your best friend, okay?"

* * *

Jughead was supposed to love creative writing class. But Y/N sat at the front of the class. And the emotions that swirled around like a hurricane inside of him didn't stop when he saw her. Rage bubbled up inside of him as he saw Chuck flirt with her, turning around with a gloating smirk on his face as Y/N laughed. Jughead was supposed to love creative writing class, but this was hell.

The end couldn't've come quicker. He hurriedly shoved his books into his bag and looked for Y/N. She was already headed out of the room.

"Y/N, wai-" he called, but Y/N cut him off.

"I'm really late for my next lesson," she mumbled. Jughead stopped in the middle of the corridor. He stopped, but the world continued around him.

From then on, it was only stolen glances. Secretive stares in class. Notes wrote but never passed. Words thought but never said.

* * *

Betty and Veronica giggled at Y/N's usual funny stories, Y/N gesturing wildly as she hung upside down from Betty's bed, golden bob lion-like. The conversation petered out slowly as Betty and Veronica had a silent conversation. Y/N didn't notice.

"Hey, Y/N?" started Betty nervously.

"Uh oh," replied Y/N. "It's that tone of voice. Never good, that is." Veronica couldn't help but snort with laughter. Betty smiled as well.

"Okay, but seriously. You and Jughead. When was the last time you talked to him?"

"Sixty four days," Y/N replied, too quickly. "Not like I'm counting or anything," she added hastily, burying her head into the pillow in embarrassment.

"Oh my god, guys," exclaimed Veronica. "That's, what, two months? You're so stubborn! Whenever you see each other, you legitimately start walking in the opposite direction."

Y/N sighed. "It's better like this. I hurt him. He doesn't want to talk. It's fine."

"Don't you notice him staring at you?" giggled Betty.

"Because we've noticed you staring at him." added Veronica with a smirk.

"Fine!" Y/N threw her hands up in exasperation. "Maybe I still like him. Happy?"

"Nope," the other two girls said together. Y/N laughed despite herself.

"And maybe, just maybe, I might, possibly, go and talk to him."

"Atta girl," winked Veronica. "Anyways, Betty, you promised us a dance-off, so hit the music! You girls are going down."

"Oh, you've got it coming on," teased Y/N, jumping off the bed and striking a pose.

* * *

Archie's phone bleeped into the silence. A text. From Betty.

v&(Y/N) are over for a sleepover. you&jug are welcome to come over, bring pizza. let's get y/n&jug to talk to each other, this is getting mad.

He replied, smothering a huge grin while he glanced slightly at Jughead, who was sitting silently and writing on his laptop.

we'll be there in five or smth. got a plan? you know what the two are like.

The reply was almost instantaneous.

i'm winging it, V's got a plan. she's just about exploding bc they aren't talking.

"Juggy, order some pizza? We're gonna go watch a movie at Betty's." stated Archie, bluntly. Jughead didn't argue.