In which even more important questions are asked.

Listen to: "The Book of Love", Gavin James

(Y/N) wandered the dusty shelves of the library, briefly recalling her text message conversation with Jughead earlier that day.

Jughead: Hey (Y/N). Pretty sick today so I can't come. But I need a book for the research project in history due tomorrow. Can you check it out for me and bring it after school?

That was weird. Jughead was always at least a week ahead of the course schedule.

Y/N: Yeah sure, what's the title?

Jughead: Mr. Andersen said the book lost its dust cover so it's just blank and red with gold bindings. Here's the dewey decimal number. I think you can figure it out.

Y/N: Why don't you just ask Archie? You guys live together anyways.

Jughead: And let him into our place? No chance.

(Y/N) had grinned at that, and headed off in search of this prodigal history tome. What Jughead had asked for was deep in the stacks and took quite a while to find. The fact that it didn't have a cover made it easy to spot among the spines with words, surprisingly.

She slid the red book with gold binding off of the shelf. Out of curiosity, she turned to the first page in an attempt to find the title.

The Start of Something New, it read in a bold font. (Y/N) became confused. This seemed more like a piece of fiction than a historical text. Maybe it was a historical narrative and Jughead was supposed to compare and contrast the story with real life? They were in different history classes and she had no idea what Mr. Andersen had assigned.

(Y/N) glanced at her phone; she had half an hour until next period. She brought the book to her and Jughead's table, opened it, and began to read.

This is a story about a town. Wholesome in its image, dark in its secrets. But mostly, it is a story about a girl in that town. A girl in that town that was one thing to everyone, but became everything to one person.

It all started one day when I met (Y/N L/N).

(Y/N) gasped and continued to read. Did Jughead write this?

It all started when my girlfriend, Betty Cooper, and I, had broken up, my friends leaving me to console her and leaving me in the infamous Riverdale High School Library...

(Y/N) began to read faster. The tale detailed Jughead's perspective of how they met at the library, going to Pop's the next day, him visiting her house, staying for dinner... she paused when she got to that moment in the library closet.

It was in that moment the world had broken my heart. Not from my deadbeat father, or my shitty living situation, but seeing how the pain of loneliness had unfairly chosen and nearly destroyed a truly amazing girl.

(Y/N)'s fingers brushed across the page, noting the dark splotches. Tears? Her heart wrenched in her chest and she turned the page. This was after she had made friends with Jughead's crew.

(Y/N), Betty, Veronica, Archie, and I quickly became the best of friends. We solved mysteries together. We drank milkshakes together. We looked after one another.

(Y/N) started to tear up. Jughead knew she'd been alone, seeking comfort in the relationships in her books. And he had written her into a story she's always hoped to be a part of.

And today, I plan to ask her to the Riverdale High School Junior Prom. I hope she says yes.

She slowly turned the page.

And I'm excited for all of the moments we have to look forward to.

The remainder of the page, and the rest of the book, she realized, was blank.

She closed it, still shocked.

"You were taking too long to bring me my stuff for the report," Jughead stammered, walking out from behind a nearby shelf. "So I came to pick the book up myself." He was holding a bouquet of red roses, holding it out to her. He was blushing furiously and averted his eyes from her direction, other hand dug deep into his pockets.

"(Y/N L/N), will you go to prom with me?"

She gasped. "Oh, Jughead..."

At this point, Jughead had to meet her eyes. He had to know if that "oh Jughead" was an utterance of apology, or of affirmation. Instead of seeing a look of pity, as he expected, (Y/N)'s eyes were full of a tenderness and appreciation he hadn't seen in a long time, if ever.

(Y/N) stood on her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing their bodies infinitely close. "Oh yes, Jughead. The answer is yes," she murmured into the crook of his neck. She wiped away a few stray tears. "Thank you. For everything."

Jughead, overwhelmed with a strange combination of euphoria, excitement, and nervousness, merely chuckled, pulling her back in. "Don't mention it. Junior prom is one of the most important times of our lives, after all," He said with a lick of sarcasm. He then whispered, more sincerely: "And I wouldn't choose to spend it with anyone else."