In which Jughead sees an aspect of the Reader that she never wanted him to see, and the Gang attempts to make amends.

"Jughead!" Mrs. (L/N) called from the hallway. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"You don't have to," (Y/N) silently mouthed at him.

Out of either fondness or fascination, Jughead found himself calling out, "I'd love to, Mrs. (L/N)!"

Though confused, (Y/N) returned her attention to the movie. Since Jughead had never read it, he convinced (Y/N) to put on the movie adaptation of Perks of Being a Wallflower on her laptop, much to her protest ("The book is much more powerful, Jug!").

"The doctor told me that even if we can't choose where we come from, we can still choose where to go from there," Charlie said to his siblings during his hospitalization.

(Y/N)'s eyes were wide, enthralled with the words she's heard and read several times before. Jughead watched as she inhaled sharply and held her breath, hugging her arms around herself so tightly it was as if she'd come apart without them. Her nails dug into her back, wrinkling the fabric of her shirt.

"Are you okay?" Jughead asked, leaning closer out of habit. Out of his habits with Betty.

(Y/N) broke from her trance. "Oh! Yeah, sorry. I just really like this movie." She laughed it off, abruptly shutting the laptop. "Let's get dinner."

(Y/N)'s mother hummed as she stirred some sort of traditional stew at the stovetop.

"Moooom," (Y/N) whined. "Jughead doesn't want to eat this stuff. He likes American food."

"It's okay, (Y/N)," Jughead said with a chuckle. He sipped the simple broth. "Wow, this is amazing!"

"You're amazing for coming here, Jughead," Mrs. (L/N) said earnestly. "(Y/N) has had such trouble making friends at Riverdale High, I'm glad someone finally wants to spend time with her! Such a handsome young man too," she continued with a wink.

"Mother!" (Y/N) protested. "Jughead and I aren't really friends, we just both have the same English class."

Jughead feigned hurt. "Ouch, (Y/N). And I was starting to think we were bonding out of our shared loneliness."

(Y/N) laughed and looked down, still embarrassed at her mother's comments. "Yeah, I think we were too."

The next day, (Y/N) texted Jughead that she was well enough to return to school. The two were making their daily trek from English class to the library when they were stopped by the one and only Veronica Lodge.

"Jughead! Come come!" She grabbed him by the arm and led him to the student lounge, leaving (Y/N) standing in the entryway.

"Jughead, we hate this rift between us man," Archie said. "We know you're probably really hurt by your recent break-up, but we want to try and help you in any way we can until you're comfortable with us again."

"I'm probably the most sorry out of all of us, Juggie," Betty said sadly. "I know you don't have to forgive me, but I hope that you don't let what I did come between your friendships with Archie and Veronica."

"We're supposed to be a family," Veronica slung her arms around the two ex-lovers awkwardly. "And families fight. But families also make up, and always love each other."

"Your dad is a criminal who you accused of killing Jason Blossom," Jughead stated with a quirked brow.

"That doesn't count!" Veronica protested. "This is real family. My real family." She smiled genuinely, vulnerably.

Glancing at Archie's trademark "puppy dog eyes" and Betty's perfect smile, Jughead sighed. "Fine, fine. I guess we can try to make this work."

Betty grinned. "Now you don't have to hang out with (Y/N) anymore! You have us!"

"Yeah," Veronica agreed. "I mean, we're 'search for a killer weird', but not that weird," she whispered. "Your real friends are here now!"

"Hey, what do you–" Jughead paused and turned around, hearing the sound of retreating footsteps. He didn't even see (Y/N) run from their sight.