full dark, no stars

(Since they’re all together, I’m going to combine them.)

Clara blinked, peering over at Jughead for a moment with surprise. He sounded so unhappy about Archie being there that she really couldn’t help but to wonder what had happened between the two of them. Her brows furrowed slightly but she resisted the urge to question it and instead looked ahead as she moved to sit down, though she was mildly surprised by Thea’s greeting. “Uh, hey,” she greeted with a small nod, “Sorry. We got a little caught up talking, I guess.” She was mildly confused, though. Had Thea known she was joining them? Or was Thea just trying to be nice? Either way, it felt a little relieving and she offered a small smile before she let herself relax.

“You don’t think I’m annoying at all, don’t even bother pretending,” Archie told Thea with a small grin as he watched her, though he nodded when she decided that she would go if she could find something to wear. “If nothing else, I’m sure you could borrow a dress from somebody,” he suggested, because he was sure that Betty wouldn’t mind offering, or perhaps the new girl Veronica. Even Clara, he supposed, though he was mildly surprised that she was joining them. His eyebrows arched up and he looked to Jughead for a moment almost questioning, but he didn’t outright say anything, especially since Jughead didn’t seem all that happy to see him. For a moment, he felt a little disheartened, but he tried not to let it bother him.

The mention of the dance caused Clara to blink with confusion, though. “Um, I don’t really know,” she admitted, shifting a bit. She supposed it might be worth it, if she could sneak some money from her parents. But, she wasn’t sure if she could manage that. If she couldn’t get anything at the dance, she was sure she could get something at Cheryl’s after party thing. Eventually, she offered a small smile and shrugged. “I guess I could.” Archie perked up a bit at the mention of it. “Oh, cool, great. Maybe you two could go dress shopping together or scan each other’s closets, make it a girl’s thing?” he offered up, glancing to Thea because he was trying to be coy about getting her help with a dress. He wanted her to be there, after all.

Clara was mildly surprised with the idea but she nodded. “I don’t mind. I probably won’t get a new one, but I have a couple at home, so I’m sure I could use one of them,” she mentioned with a small shrug before she looked to Thea, “You can check them out, if you want. I mean, some of them I haven’t even worn, so they’re kind of going to waste.” Shrugging, she fell silent after that. Archie, however, looked to Jughead, then. He wanted to fix their friendship, but he wasn’t really sure how to go about it. He figured the first step would probably be to try to talk to him, though, maybe as casually as possible. “Are you going to go to the dance?” he asked with an arched brow, “I mean, I know it’s not usually your thing, but… Who knows, it could be fun.”

(I will as well. And sorry, this post is shorter than the others.)

Jughead sat down beside Clara once they reached the table, he stayed silent as Thea brought up the dance. He looked between Thea and Archie, to him it sounded like they were going to the back to school dance. Which he wouldn’t have minded if Archie hadn’t ditched them over the summer, he knew Thea hadn’t forgotten about that and he also knew he could hold a grudge longer than what she could. He wasn’t pleased that she had allowed Archie back into her life so quickly, he remembered very clearly how upset his sister had been when Archie cancelled the camping trip. He thought she would have pushed Archie away a little longer, but then Thea asked Clara if she was going to the dance and he looked over at her as he was interested in what her answer would be. He wouldn’t be going, but maybe he should just this once, if Clara would be there then it could be slightly bearable.

“We’ll see, don’t go getting your hopes up.” Thea looked at Archie as she wasn’t sure if anyone would let her borrow a dress from them, she could consider Betty a friend but she was really the only one. And even then, Thea wasn’t sure if she would feel comfortable asking Betty if she could borrow a dress from her, they only really spoke in class or if they bumped into each other. Her eyes moved to Clara when Archie suggested they should find dresses together, “Only if that’s alright with you? Don’t let him push you into doing again, I’m sure I can find something if I have to.” Thea didn’t want Clara to feel like she had to let her borrow a dress, that was the last thing that Thea wanted to happen.

“Probably not, I don’t tend to make plans if I know I’m not going to bother showing up.” Jughead glanced over to Archie, he wanted his sister to go to the dance. She deserved to have some fun and have a night away from the drunk they call their dad, but that didn’t mean he would be attending. He would most likely be sitting in a booth at Pop’s drinking a strawberry milkshake and working on his manuscript, to him that sounded like a better night than going to a lame dance. Thea frowned slightly as her foot found her brother’s shin under the table, “Jug.” She hissed watching her brother grunt in pain from her kick, “Plans get changed all the time. Let it go,” She looked at her brother, she knew the boys would have to talk about what happened but they could find a better time to have that talk.

(No worries!)

Clara smiled and shook her head slightly. “I really don’t mind,” she assured, “Like I said, a bunch of them, I’ve never worn and probably never will. So, if you like any of them, you can have them. At least they won’t go to waste.” She shrugged slightly, figuring it wasn’t that big of a deal. Over the years of dating her ex, she’d bought plenty of dresses, but he never liked her showing that much skin - and, more than that, she couldn’t really show that much skin, anyways, because of the bruises and injuries. She tried not to think about that too much right now, though. Hearing Jughead’s words, she looked over at him with surprise.

A small frown formed on Archie’s features as he watched Jughead for a moment, taking in his words, before he shook his head. “You can’t really hate me forever for that, can you?” he asked with shock. They’d been best friends for longer than he could remember, after all. There was no way that Jughead could just hate him over something that simple, was there? It didn’t seem possible. It didn’t feel possible. But, the way Jughead had spoken made him wonder if he was wrong. Jughead might never forgive him and he wasn’t sure what to do about that. “Look, I didn’t expect to bail, okay? Something came up.”

At this point, Clara felt fairly awkward, stuck on the outside of the conversation and a part of her wished that she had gotten lunch if for no other reason than to poke at it to keep her occupied so that she wasn’t staring between the group with shock. Eventually deciding that she wanted no part in the conversation, she ducked her head slightly, her attention falling to the table.

“I know it was wrong, Jug, and I know you’re going to be angry for a while, but I didn’t mean to just disappear like that,” Archie went on as he watched his friend. “And, I mean, it’s not like there’s anything I can do about it now except apologize constantly but what use will that be if you’re just going to be angry at me either way?”

Thea smiled as she hadn’t expected Clara to be so nice, she knew that Clara would be a nice person if her brother was spending time with her. But Clara still didn’t know any of them all that well, but there she was offering Thea the chance to not only borrow a dress for the dance but to keep a dress that she liked. It wasn’t often that Thea was treated this way, unless it was Jughead or Archie as most people simply ignored her. Sadly, she was used to being ignored, so it was a nice surprise when Clara was so generous. “Thank you, maybe we can make it into a girly afternoon. If you were in for that?” She asked as it would give them time to also get to know each other, Thea hadn’t really spoken to Clara much and it wasn’t because she didn’t want to. It was because she could never get close enough to Clara to actually have a conversation with her, as her boyfriend was always around.

Jughead shook his head slightly as he looked at Archie, “Why shouldn’t I hate you? We had that trip planned for months, Archie. But then the night before we were meant to go, you cancelled on us. Just like that, completely out of the blue.” That is what pissed Jughead off the most, that Archie had literally cancelled the night before, not a few days or a week before. No, he called the night before when he should have been packing for the fun weekend camping trip. The idea had even him his own, so for him to then cancel pissed Jughead off. He knew that things come up, and if Archie had explained to him the reason why they had to cancel the trip then he might not be so angry but Archie hasn’t explained why.

Thea glanced over to Clara and noticed how awkward and uncomfortable she was, “Guys stop. Talk about this later, maybe when we don’t have a guest at our table.” She spoke firmly as her eyes moved between the two boys, they still had time to talk about what happened but right now wasn’t the best time for that. Clara was sitting right there, it wasn’t fair on her and Thea didn’t want Clara to decide not to sit with them again because she felt left out by the small group. “So, did you get up to much over the summer?” She asked Clara once Archie and Jughead realised that she was right, they needed to include Clara so that she would feel comfortable and make her want to sit with them again.

Jughead’s expression soften when he realised Clara was staring at the table, he felt awful because he knew what it felt like to be ignored by people. He was the one who invited her to sit with him at lunch, and then he started to argue with Archie about what happened over the summer break. He’d apologize to Clara later about that, he hadn’t meant to but when Archie spoke to him, Jughead just couldn’t help but bring up what happened.

Clara blinked with mild surprise, looking to Thea, because she hadn’t really expected Thea to speak up about it or for it to really matter. After all, there was the possibility that she might not fit in well with this group, so for somebody to speak out and remind the guys that Clara was there left her shocked, really. Still, she eventually offered a small nod. “Sure, we can make it into a girl’s day. I haven’t really had one of those in… Well, far too long,” she admitted with a small shrug, but she doubted it was really all that surprising.

“So… Only girls?” Archie asked with a joking grin, trying to ease out of the argument he’d been having with Jughead. Thea had a point, after all; his and Jughead’s argument could wait for later. Or, moreover, they could just try to move past it entirely, but Archie was doubtful of that. He doubted Jughead would forgive him unless he gave him a reasonable explanation. The problem was that Archie couldn’t tell Jughead the truth and that really sucked, because Jughead was his best friend. But, he knew how much trouble would come up if anybody found out what had happened over the summer, so he just had to keep his mouth shut about it. “You’re not going to invite Jughead and me along?” He arched a brow, eyeing Thea with amusement.

Looking to Archie, Clara didn’t really comment on his words but she looked back to Thea and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Um… Not really,” she admitted. For the most part, she’d dealt with the break up between her and her ex, Mark, which had ended in more injuries than usual, and then she’d had to deal with her parents finding out about her drug problem. “I just… Stayed at home, for the most part. Worked on myself, I guess.” Not really, but they didn’t need to know that.

Archie watched her for a moment, his brows furrowing slightly. Something didn’t quite seem right, but he didn’t want to mention it and cause another possible argument. “Well, I guess that’s not too surprising,” he said eventually as he offered a small shrug, “I mean, I doubt any of us really did anything. I mostly worked with my dad through the summer.” And spent time with a certain teacher, but he couldn’t mention that. He supposed they all had their own secrets, so he couldn’t really badger Clara about whatever she was hiding when he was hiding stuff himself.

Thea smiled when Clara agreed to make a girl’s day before the back to school dance, something that Thea hadn’t really ever had before. Glancing over to Archie she shook her head, “No boys allowed. You two would only get in the way,” She smiled at Archie, besides she didn’t want him seeing what dress she was wearing until it was time for the dance. And she also wanted to have some time with Clara, she couldn’t remember ever seeing Clara hang out with her friends. Thea knew while Clara was dating Mark, she really only saw Clara with him so she assumed it would be nice to have some girl time and potentially make a new girl that wasn’t her brother or Archie.

“And why would we want to go?” Jughead spoke up before looking over at Clara, “No offense but aren’t you just going to try dresses on and talk about girl stuff?” He grinned at the girls knowing they’d probably do more than just that, “How boring. That sounds like hell to me,” He was joking but was also a little bit serious, that didn’t interest him in the slightest. He’d much rather play video games or watch movies, all of which he used to do when he hung out in Archie’s garage. He wasn’t close to forgiving Archie, not until he knew the reason as to why he ditched them. It had to be because of something important, otherwise Archie would have been honest about the reason. Jughead just didn’t understand why his best friend felt like he couldn’t tell him what was really happening.

Thea nodded her head lightly as she listened to Clara, she wanted to ask Clara how she was doing after the breakup but thought otherwise. They didn’t know each other and it was none of Thea’s business, “That’s good though.” She smiled at the blonde who had seemed to peek her brother’s interest, “I just worked at Pop’s.” She shrugged her shoulders lightly before her eyes caught her brother’s, no one knew about their family breaking down and how Jughead had moved out of the trailer that the Jones’ called their home. And the twins wanted to keep it that way, they didn’t want attention or anyone’s sympathy. They would just deal with what they had to and keep it all bottled up.

“I worked at the drive-in, though I won’t have a job there for much longer.” Jughead was still bitter about the Major allowing someone to buy the land that the drive-in sat on, because this person wasn’t going to keep the drive-in and make it what it used to be. No, it would get pulled down and forgotten about. “We better keep this to ourselves, otherwise everyone will know just how boring we are.” He grinned to himself as the four of them did sound really boring with what they had done over the summer break.

“Isn’t the answer to that simple?” Clara asked with an arched brow as she watched Jughead, “I mean, if you spent time with us, watching us try on dresses, who knows how many opportunities you’d get to check out a girl while they’re dressing and undressing constantly?” She smirked teasingly but shrugged and leaned against the table. “I mean, sure you wouldn’t want to check out your sister, but I’m certain I don’t look completely unworthy of being checked out while undressing.” She was joking, of course, and it felt somewhat nice to be able to joke at all. Shrugging the thought aside, she listened to them explain their summers before she nodded slightly. “I think that’s normal, not boring.”

Archie listened to the twins talk, glancing between them for a moment when they seemed to share a moment. It left him a little confused, because he knew looks like that. He’d shared looks like that with both twins one way or another. He knew what looks like that meant - that something was up, that they were keeping something from those around him. And, really, he wasn’t used to being the one on the outside looking in. It made him feel a little awkward, something he never really felt when he hung out with the twins normally. Of course, he tried to tell himself that maybe they weren’t sharing because Clara was there. But, maybe they weren’t sharing simply because he’d been so out of touch with them lately. “Right. It is normal,” he decided eventually.

“And, some people would love normalcy,” Clara hummed out with a small nod. “Or maybe they’d love excitement.” She made a face, tapping at her chin in thought as she tilted her head. “Or a mix of both. Ah, to each their own.” Shrugging, she scanned around them a bit, thankful that nobody was really bothering them. The last thing she wanted was to have to deal with the idiots at the school - the jerks, the jocks, the uppity people that seemed to run the school. No, she preferred this, though she never quite expected that.

“I think getting normal things out of the way was a good way to spend the summer,” Archie mentioned with a small shrug. Except, his summer hadn’t been entirely normal, but he couldn’t say that. “Especially with what’s going on so far.” With the Jason Blossom death, the fact that they’d gotten to have… Mostly normal summers should be a good thing. As much as he didn’t want to say or think it, at least they weren’t Jason Blossom. At least none of them were dead.

Jughead had finished stuffing his face with his lunch when Clara spoke, looking at her he was glad that she felt comfortable enough to joke around with them. “That’s true, but the whole thought of you trying on dresses and asking my opinion when I don’t really care what you wear is hell. Besides I’ve already checked you out today,” He was joking but he was also being honest, he had already checked her out and had done so for a while now. Even when she was still with her boyfriend, he had still checked her out whenever he could and it was safe to do so. “And no, I won’t be there because my sister will be there.” He spoke as he already knew whatever the girls decided to wear, they would be both be gorgeous.

Thea nodded her head in agreement, she had still enjoyed her summer. She would have loved to have gone camping like planned, but she still filled her days as she knew the summer break never lasted as long as she would like. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the way Archie looked between her and Jughead after they shared a moment. She hoped he wouldn’t ask her about it because she wasn’t ready to tell him, she knew he would want to help them but what could he do to fix her family? Nothing, he wouldn’t be able to help. No one could help unless her mom decided to move back to Riverdale and work through things with their dad. Sadly, Thea didn’t see that happening and that hurt.

“It does put life in perspective,” Jughead glanced over the small group, Jason Blossom’s death has make the argument with Archie seem stupid. At least he had a best friend who cared about him, he had the best twin sister and younger sister that he could have asked for. And he might have made a new friend in Clara, everyone that was close to him was thankfully still alive. “That’s probably why Cheryl still wants the dance to go ahead and why she’s holding a party,” Even though Jughead was certain Cheryl wanted the students to celebrate Jason’s life and remember him, not for them to have a good night and relish with the fact that they are all healthy and alive.

“I think she’s still trying to work out how to deal with all of it,” Thea looked at her own twin brother, how Cheryl was dealing with what happened was astounding to Thea. She would have been a mess if anything ever happened to Jughead, but everyone did deal with grief in many different ways. Obviously, Cheryl needed to keep herself busy and focused. “Speaking of the dance, Jughead you better be taking Clara.” She smiled as she looked at them, it might be the only way to get her brother to the dance if he was taking Clara.

“Ah, but you’re forgetting that we’ll have to be undressing, which would give you loads more chances to look at more than just us in clothes. Or me in clothes, I guess, would be the more appropriate phrasing,” Clara hummed out jokingly, offering a teasing grin to Jughead, because if he was going to joke about checking her out, she was going to tease him about it one way or another. “Imagine everything you’d get a chance to see, then.” She winked teasingly, then, and let out a quiet laugh.

Archie found himself focusing on Thea for a few moments with concern when he noticed her silent for so long. He couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was going on with her and Jughead, but he wasn’t sure if questioning about it in front of Clara was the best idea. After all, maybe they’d be more inclined in telling him what was going on if it was just him. But, he’d have to work on finding the right time to bring it up. “Maybe,” he decided eventually, nodding to Jughead’s words. “I mean… With everything that’s happened, it wouldn’t really be all that surprising, I guess. Riverdale needs a bit of normalcy again.”

“As much as everybody likes to pretend Riverdale is normal, it’s really not,” Clara mentioned eventually, lifting her shoulders in a small shrug. “Riverdale’s full of secrets. I’d bet that every single person in Riverdale has some deep, dark secret they’re hiding. Hell, even the four of us at this table - I bet each of us has something we wouldn’t want the others to know, one way or another.” She shrugged gently, but blinked when Thea mentioned Jughead taking her to the dance and she stared at Thea with surprise.

Admittedly, Archie found himself a little uncomfortable with Clara’s theory, because he knew he had a secret he wanted to keep. But, he tried not to let his discomfort show, and he forced himself to look amused. “That’s one crazy conspiracy theory,” he joked lightly before looking to Thea when she brought up Jughead. He eyed her for a moment before he looked to Jughead. “You might as well,” he suggested with a shrug, “I mean… We could make it sort of a double date?” Though he wasn’t sure Jughead would be up for it since dances weren’t his thing and he was still clearly upset with Archie.

Jughead decided to stay back after school was finished for the day, he had found a quiet spot where he could work on his manuscript more in silence. He knew he could take his time as most of the teachers were still around the school, he would have gone to Pop’s but that would be crowded by students and he wouldn’t have the silence that he liked to have when he needed to think. Thea had gone over to Clara’s house so they could both find a dress, he hadn’t actually asked Clara to the dance as he assumed she knew he’d take her. He wasn’t great when it came to asking girls out, he hadn’t ever really needed to as not many girls were even interested in him. Checking the time he realised he should head back to the drive-in, which is where he was living currently. Closing his laptop, he put his stuff into his backpack before he stood up and started walking through the empty hallways.

He walked past the music room before he stopped, he swore he saw something from the corner of his eye. So, he moved closer to the door and looked through the small glass window, shock flooded Jughead as what he saw. The new music teacher, Ms Grundy, was standing awfully close to Archie. In a way that wasn’t right for a teacher and student, Jughead continued watching them as Ms Grundy placed her hand on Archie’s chest only for Archie to move away. Jughead didn’t know what to think, he hurried away from the classroom but still stuck around as he needed to talk to Archie about this. Especially if Archie was taking his sister to the dance, if there was a chance the red head would hurt Thea then Jughead would stop that from happening.

---

“So, you and my brother, huh?” Thea smiled as she had been dying to ask Clara all day about her and Jughead, it was probably nothing. But, Thea wanted her brother to be happy which he hasn’t been in such a long time. And if Clara was the person that could make Jughead happy, then she wanted to know about it and make sure that her brother didn’t screw things up for himself. “I’m glad he started talking to you, as you probably know we don’t have many friends.” She stared at herself in the mirror as she tried on another dress, none of the dresses she had tried on didn’t seem to fit or look right. But Thea really like this one, however she wasn’t sure if it was too much for a dance. Clara clearly hadn’t worn it, as the tag was still attached.

“What do you think of this one?” Thea asked as she turned around to face Clara, she wondered if Archie would like the dress but didn’t want to say that aloud. She hadn’t told anyone about her feelings for Archie, she still thought if she voiced her feelings then he would reject her, and it would ruin their friendship. In Thea’s mind there was no way Archie would feel the same way about her, they were friends and that was all they’d ever be.

Clara blinked with mild surprise at the sudden topic and she looked over to Thea, watching her. “Me and your brother, what?” she asked with confusion, shifting a bit. While she’d admit that Jughead was attractive and he’d surprised her by talking to her, she wasn’t sure she was the type of person Jughead needed in his life. She was damaged and toxic, and she didn’t want to bring that into Jughead’s life at all. He was too good of a person. He deserved better. Still, when Thea spoke a little more about the entire thing, she offered a small smile and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “It really surprised me that he bothered to talk to me at all.”

When Thea asked her opinion on the dress, though, a broad grin formed on Clara’s features. “Oh, I’d say that would definitely catch some attention from your date. Especially if you have your hair up to expose the back.” She winked teasingly and stood up from her bed, moving over to toy with Thea’s hair in an attempt to show her. “Something like this, maybe?” She arched a brow, tilting her head with curiosity. “You might not even need accessories with it, considering the design. You wouldn’t want to take away from it.” She nodded once, examining her. “Overall, I think that dress suits you perfectly.”

---

Archie had gone to ask Ms. Grundy for help with his music, though it’d been an awkward attempt, since he’d ended things before when his feelings for Thea kept growing. He wanted to be with Thea and, besides, he knew that a relationship or whatever this was with Ms. Grundy wasn’t something he wanted or needed in his life. No, all he really wanted was Thea and now he had the chance at that, however slim it may be. Ms. Grundy, of course, wasn’t very fond of it and had tried to convince him to stay with her, to give them another chance. Archie shook his head, stepping back when she kept trying.

“This was a bad idea,” he said eventually. He shouldn’t have come there in search of her help in music but he’d thought she would be okay with helping, that things wouldn’t have turned out like this. Maybe that was naive of him but he’d hoped that they could just get past what had happened between them so he could focus on his music and on Thea. “Please, Archie, think about it,” Ms. Grundy whispered as she watched him, her expression softening. “We can be together, you and me. We were happy together.” Archie watched her for a moment before he shook his head. “No, we weren’t,” he said firmly, because they hadn’t been. He’d just accepted the distraction she’d brought. Sighing, he turned and walked out of the classroom.

Jughead waited for Archie to exit the high school, he was leaning against the stair railings with his arms crossed. Hearing the door swing open, he looked at his friend. “Anything you want to tell me, bud? Having girl trouble?” He asked as a slight frown formed on his features, was this the reason Archie cancelled their camping trip away? Surely it had to be, unless he was hiding another deep dark secret from Jughead. Did Archie not see how bad this situation was? He was dating a teacher, that was something Jughead never would have thought would happen in Riverdale or to someone he knew so well. But, Riverdale was changing and showing the town’s true colours.

“I don’t really care what you do or who you decide to see, but this is wrong. She’s a teacher, Archie… and if you’re still planning on taking my sister to the dance, you better not if you’re still with Ms. Grundy.” Jughead looked at his friend, he wouldn’t allow his sister to get hurt or used if Archie was still going to be with another woman. “I’m not going to let you hurt her, she’s been through enough.” He spoke not waiting for Archie to respond, the words flowed from his mouth as all he cared about protecting was Thea.

---

“Oh nothing,” Thea smiled as she wanted to gauge what Clara thought of her brother, “I mean, I know you broke up with your boyfriend not that long ago. But Jug is a really good guy, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother. Just in case you didn’t know that,” Thea spoke as her hands ran over the skirt of the dress, she doubted that Archie would drool over her or even notice her much in the nice dress. “I think he’s wanted to talk to you for a while now, but he never got the chance with Mark around you.” She explained as she looked over at Clara, Jughead had mentioned her once or twice before when she had still been dating Mark.

“I don’t think Archie would notice that much,” Thea softened her voice as she watched as Clara held her hair up, so her back was more exposed. “Yeah, that looks really nice actually.” She couldn’t remember the last time Thea had gotten this dressed up, she didn’t own nicer clothes or dresses as she couldn’t afford them. Not that it mattered to her, she was more comfortable in sneakers and jeans anyway. “Thank you again for this, I honestly wouldn’t have gone to the dance. I don’t have dresses like this at home,” She admitted to Clara because she felt like she could.

Clara listened to Thea, nodding slowly to her words. “Yeah, he does seem like a really good guy,” she admitted as she shifted a bit. “But, that’s part of the problem. He’s such a good guy and… The way I am right now, he deserves better than that.” She couldn’t go into details about it, because she didn’t want anybody to know about her problems. It’d either make people worry or judge her and neither option was all that great, in her opinion. When she heard the mention of Mark, though, she made a face. “Yeah, Mark was pretty much the worst decision of my life. It just took me way too long to realize it.” And, in moments that she’d even think it, it usually ended with her getting hurt.

“Oh, what are you talking about? Archie would totally notice.” Clara grinned, nudging the girl teasingly, as she’d seen the way Archie had looked at Thea and the way Thea had looked at Archie. “Honestly, there’s clearly something there.” Whether either of the two would acknowledge it or not, Clara had definitely noticed it. She blinked, though, and shook her head. “You don’t have to thank me, really. My parents get all of these at discounts, since they own the dress shop here, so they tend to bring home any dress they think suits me. The problem is that you can only wear these dresses for special occasions and Mark wasn’t fond of dances or parties or me looking nice in general, so they just waste away in my closet.”

---

Archie paused, tensing when he heard Jughead’s voice and he lifted his gaze to his friend, watching him with surprise. He wasn’t sure what to say and, for a while, he stood there speechless before he eventually shook his head. “It’s not like that anymore,” he said firmly, a frown on his features, because he’d ended the relationship, even if Ms. Grundy was having trouble accepting it. It didn’t matter, though; whether Ms. Grundy accepted it or not, it was over and he wasn’t turning back on that decision, not when things were going okay now. “Just listen to me, Jug. You can’t tell anybody, please.” He watched his friend for a moment before he moved closer, lowering his voice.

“I ended it, alright? I ended it because… Because I like Thea too much to continue what was going on between Ms. Grundy,” he said carefully, worried about how Jughead might react to his confession, and he dropped his gaze for a moment. “I went to Ms. Grundy just now, hoping she’d help me with my music, that’s all. But, she tried to turn it around into getting me back and I’m not doing it. I’m not getting involved with her again, because I want to be with Thea, alright?” He lifted his gaze back, watching his friend for a moment. “I would have told you, I swear, but things are more complicated than I can really explain right now.” Because they’d heard that gunshot. “I’m not going to hurt Thea, though, I promise. I would never hurt her, Jug.”

Jughead’s frown didn’t leave his face as he listened to Archie, at least he had ended whatever relationship he had with Ms. Grundy. That was good news, but he wasn’t sure how he felt knowing that his friend liked his sister. He stood there in silence as he took in what Archie had told him, if he thought about it, then he knew Thea couldn’t go wrong if she decided to date Archie. She could certainly pick a worse guy if she wanted, Archie had never hurt her, and he was confident that Archie would treat her right. But it was still weird for him to think about, his best friend liked his sister more than just being friends.

“Just tell me the truth, is that the reason why you cancelled our camping trip?” Jughead looked at Archie as he needed to know the reason, he was pretty sure it was. Archie cancelled their trip away because of Ms. Grundy, “If it is, then you could have told me. I wouldn’t have told anyone, I still won’t tell anyone as long as you don’t let her pull you back in.” If Ms. Grundy did somehow pull Archie back in, he would say something because it was wrong. It would also hurt his sister, “And I guess you can date Thea. Just don’t talk to me about it… and I know a way that you can make it up to me, I’ll need a lot of burgers.” He looked at his friend and smiled, if Archie had been honest with him from the start then maybe Jughead wouldn’t have avoided him for so long.

---

Thea looked at Clara, “Don’t say that. He’s tougher than he looks, we’ve had to deal with a lot over the summer. I know he can deal with whatever you’re going through, if you wanted to let him in.” She wanted to ask Clara about what was going on in her life, but felt like it wasn’t any of her business to ask. If she wanted to talk about then she could in her own time, Thea would be there when and if she did want to tell someone. “At least you did realise that Mark wasn’t good for you and you got out, it’s not like anyone could have told you. To me it seemed like he kept everyone away from you, so no one could tell you.” That is what it seemed like to Thea from someone who could only look at the relationship from the outside.

“I hope he does notice, I like him so much.” Thea sighed as she wasn’t expecting her feelings to be returned, she could see Archie with someone like Veronica or even Betty. Looking at Clara, she frowned a bit. “Really? So, Mark wouldn’t take you out anywhere? Why not?” She asked as that didn’t make sense to her, Clara was gorgeous. Didn’t he want to take her out and show off to his friends, isn’t that what guys did? Thea wasn’t sure as she hadn’t really dated many guys.

Clara took in the information for a few moments, thinking over it. If Jughead had been through a lot already, would it really even be fair of her to drag Jughead into her craziness. Instead of addressing it further when she wasn’t sure what to do about it, though, she offered a small nod to Thea’s later words. “Yeah, actually… That’s pretty much exactly what he did. If anybody even looked at me, he’d get all pissy,” she said, making a face. It usually ended with arguments, then injuries. “It didn’t matter who they were or anything. He was an incredibly jealous person and it was ridiculous.” She sighed out, shaking her head slightly. “I just wish I’d gotten out of it sooner, that I’d seen how toxic he was sooner.” Maybe if she had, she wouldn’t be in the situation she was in now. Maybe she would have even been worth somebody like Jughead’s attention.

Her expression softened to Thea’s later words, though, and she watched her for a moment before she smiled slightly. “Of course he’ll notice. You have nothing to worry about,” she assured gently, nodding once. “Trust me. I’m pretty good at reading people when I’m on the outside of a situation. I can tell.” She winked teasingly but shrugged to Thea’s questions. “Because he was such a jealous person. He liked having me all to myself, so I guess isolating me was his best option.”

---

Archie stared at his friend for a moment before he sighed out. “Yeah… Yeah, it was. I didn’t expect things to end up like this, really,” he told him eventually, “But… More than that, the day Jason Blossom went missing, I was with Ms. Grundy near the river where Cheryl washed ashore. We heard a gunshot that morning. I didn’t think much about it, but it still freaked me out. And, when Jason’s body got found, Ms. Grundy made it pretty clear that we couldn’t tell anybody, so I’ve been stressing about that.” He frowned gently, watching his friend as he wondered if Jughead had any advice on the situation or if Jughead would just get angry with him again for keeping another secret from him. But, at least he was mentioning it now. That had to mean something, right? Jughead couldn’t really just keep hating him.

“I was worried that you’d tell me how bad it was. Or that it would get back around to Thea and that was the last thing I wanted.” He frowned gently, rubbing at the back of his neck before he sighed and nodded. “I won’t. I’m done with Ms. Grundy.” And, he was. There was no way he’d go back into that, not when he was so focused on Thea now. Hearing Jughead’s later words, he stared at him with surprise, but he felt his tension ebb away and he grinned broadly. “Milkshakes, too?” he asked jokingly.

Jughead was beyond shocked at what he heard Archie say, he didn’t care now that Archie had cancelled their trip at the last second. He had been near the river and heard a gunshot, Ms. Grundy was clearly begging or pressuring Archie not to tell anyone. Even if speaking up was the right thing to do, she clearly cared more about herself and her job then she did about Archie. “Arch, you have to tell someone. You need to tell Mr. Weatherbee or Sheriff Keller, they can help, and this is something they need to know.” Jughead looked at his friend, he could see how much this secret was affecting Archie. He was torn, he wanted to be honest as it could help Sheriff Keller find who murdered Jason but, then he might have to give up Ms. Grundy as to the person he was with that day.

“I won’t tell Thea, I don’t think she needs to know about this.” Jughead promised as he thought it wouldn’t matter, Thea didn’t need to know if Archie’s summer fling with Ms. Grundy was in the past. So, he wouldn’t tell his sister. “I’ll definitely need milkshakes too,” He grinned at his friend, “You might also want to get Thea some milkshakes too. We both know how grumpy she can get if she’s left out,” He chuckled softly as he felt like things could go back to normal now, he’d be there for Archie no matter what he decided to do about his secret. Of course, Jughead wanted his friend to speak up, but it wasn’t his decision to make.

---

Thea had no idea that was how Clara’s relationship had been, from the outside it looked fine. Like a lot of things in Riverdale, from the outside everything seemed wonderful. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, I had no idea.” She shook her head lightly as she would have hated to be in a relationship that was like that, Clara clearly had zero control or say when she had been dating Mark. “Let’s just be grateful that you did get out, now you can focus on yourself.” She smiled as she reached behind her, she unzipped the dress and let it slide off her body. Laying it down on Clara’s bed, Thea grabbed her clothes and got dressed again. Thea could feel her cheeks becoming warm at Clara’s comment about reading people, she hoped that Clara was right about Archie.

“Anyway, let’s stop talking about the jerk. What dress are you going to wear?” Thea asked as she sat down on Clara’s bed, “We’ll have to start going out more. So, you have a chance to wear all of these dresses,” She said as she glanced over the dresses that they had pulled out, all of them were amazing and deserved to be worn. It was nice being able to have a girly chat with someone who wasn’t her brother.

Clara lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “Nobody knew. He was pretty good at pretending to be a great boyfriend and, I mean, there were times where he did seem that way, but… The times he was awful outweighed all of that and I eventually came to my senses,” she said eventually, though she nodded to Thea’s words because she was glad she’d gotten out of it as well. Unfortunately, there were still consequences from it all and she’d still have to deal with those. Like Thea had said, she needed to work on herself, but Clara honestly wasn’t even sure where to begin.

Hearing Thea’s question, she moved over to her closet, scanning through the dresses before she pulled one out and held it up to herself. “What do you think about this one?” she asked, arching a brow. “I like the pockets it has. Means I can carry my phone around in them and not in my hand or something.” She grinned slightly, shrugging. It also meant that she could carry other things around if she scored, but she couldn’t mention that. “Don’t forget, you can take as many of the dresses as you want, so you can wear them, too, when we go out.”

---

Archie nodded, because he wanted to speak up, he wanted to tell the truth about what had happened. But, he didn’t want Ms. Grundy to get in trouble because of it. It worried him, because he didn’t want to ruin somebody’s life, which is what it would do if Archie brought it up and had to tell them he’d been with Ms. Grundy when it happened, but the information could also be a key piece to finding out who had killed Jason. Hell, whoever had shot the gun that day could very well be the person who’d killed Jason, even. “I know, I know,” he said quietly before he sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “I just never expected to be in a situation like this.”

And, he hadn’t. The year before, he hadn’t been anything like what he was now. But, over the summer, he’d changed and he’d become a better person, but this secret was eating him alive. He chuckled, though, at the mention of inviting Thea for milkshakes, too, and he nodded. “You’re right. I owe you both a lot after everything that happened,” he said honestly, because he’d nearly ruined their friendship because of everything. He needed to make up for that and he fully intended to, because he didn’t want to lose Thea or Jughead or ever be that close to losing either of them ever again.

Jughead could see how this secret was killing Archie, he was that person who always did the right thing and now he couldn’t. “What if you just didn’t mention who you were with?” He suggested as he wanted to help his friend, any way that he could. “Tell the Sheriff that first, that you won’t share the name of who you were with. At least then they’ll know about the gun shot, and you won’t be getting anyone in trouble.” He shrugged his shoulders as it was the only thing he could think of that could help Archie, surely Sheriff Keller wouldn’t press Archie to give up Ms Grundy’s name once he explained about hearing a gun being fired near the river.

“As long as you keep me fed,” Jughead chuckled as he looked at his friend, “Want to head over to Pop’s now? I’m sure Thea’s still with Clara, they could meet us there?” He asked as he was hungry and could really have Archie buy him a burger, and if Archie liked his sister than it meant he would get to spend more time with her. Even though it made Jughead feel weird, knowing his best friend and twin sister could become more than just friends. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind, he didn’t want to put himself off dinner, because it would be a free dinner.

---

Thea looked over at Clara and smiled when she saw the dress, “That will look amazing on you. I like the detail on the top, and I think you should curl your hair. Maybe have it half up, so it doesn’t get in your face.” She smiled as she was really enjoying herself and now she was actually looking forward to attending the dance, partly because she was going with Archie but also because she was going to wear such a nice dress. Standing up, Thea moved over to Clara’s closet again and looked through her dresses to see if anymore stood out to her.

“I’m glad we decided to do this, I don’t really spend my time with anyone but Jughead and Archie. So, it’s really nice to have another girl… a girl friend.” Thea was friends with Betty, but she hadn’t ever spent time like this with Betty. Thea was certain that Betty’s mom didn’t like the Jones family, and she hadn’t really spoken to Veronica. “Do you mind if I took these ones?” She asked Clara when she had picked out a few more nice dresses, she still couldn’t believe that Clara was letting her take any of the dresses in her closet.

Clara grinned slightly with the suggestion before she nodded slightly. “Yeah, I think that would look really great,” she decided as she stared down at the dress for a moment. Admittedly, she couldn’t help but to feel a little giddy now. She hadn’t gotten the chance to just dress up and enjoy herself since she began dating Mark and she certainly hadn’t expected to ever really get the chance to do so after everything between them. But, here she was, picking out dresses and talking about hairstyles, and it made her actually excited for the dance, regardless of everything else.

She nodded, though, looking over to Thea. “Yeah, I know what you mean,” she admitted, but she didn’t bother repeating everything. Thea already seemed well aware of the fact that Clara hadn’t really had friends while she’d been with Mark; there wasn’t much of a point in telling it all over again. “It’s really nice to just have somebody to talk to in general. Getting all girly, for once, is just a bonus.” Grinning jokingly, she watched Thea and nodded. “Go ahead, take them, keep them, enjoy them, love them. They totally deserve to be worn and flaunted. And you deserve to flaunt.”

---

Archie blinked at Jughead’s suggestion before he offered a small, short nod. “That might work. I could just say that I was alone, I guess,” he decided. But, then, that meant that the Sheriff Keller might not believe him if he had nobody to corroborate his story. Still, surely Sheriff Keller would still look into it, right? He wouldn’t want to take risks. He’d want to check every possible lead that came in. Or, at least, that’s what Archie hoped for, anyways. But, the less he told Sheriff Keller about Ms. Grundy, the better, he hoped. He didn’t want to get Ms. Grundy in trouble in any way, after all.

Hearing Jughead, he offered a small nod. “Uh, yeah, sure. I’ll shoot Thea a text, have them meet us there,” he decided with a grin, looking forward to being able to spend time with Thea again. While they’d always been inseparable, things were different now; he’d finally admitted to himself how he felt. Pulling out his phone, he sent Thea a text. Heading to Pop’s with Jughead. Do you and Clara want to join? Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he headed towards the school’s exit. “Come on, let’s go, then,” he decided, peering over his shoulder at his friend with a smile before he walked out of the school.

“Whatever you decide to do, know that I’ll have your back.” Jughead promised as he knew what Archie was like, if he had a secret then it tended to stay that way. So, for him to tell Jughead, especially when they weren’t really on speaking terms, it meant a lot to Jughead. Of course, he had caught Ms Grundy trying to reel Archie back in, but Archie still willingly admitted what his big secret was. So, yeah, Jughead would support his best friend in what he decided to do. Even if Archie made the wrong decision and kept this all a secret, just to protect Ms Grundy’s name. Which meant Archie was way too good for the music teacher.

“Let’s go, I’m starving.” Jughead smiled before he walked away from the high school with Archie, he wouldn’t consider things to be normal, but he felt better now that he had spoken to Archie and cleared everything up. He doubted that things in Riverdale would be normal, not until Jason’s death was solved and whoever killed the teenager was put behind bars for what they did. It wasn’t a far walk to Pop’s diner, and once they arrived Jughead slid into an empty booth.

---

Thea didn’t know how to thank Clara enough for the dresses she was taking with her, she folded each one and placed them nicely in a bag with the dress she’d wear to the dance. “Thank you,” She looked at Clara, she felt like she should do or say something more in order to truly thank the girl, but Thea didn’t know what she could do or say. Hearing her phone, she grabbed it from where it sat on Clara’s desk and opened the new message. “Oh, Archie and Jug are going to Pop’s. Want to go with me?” She asked as she looked at Clara, hoping the day of hanging out with them was too much for her.

She waited until Clara agreed to join the small group, Thea replied to the message, We’ll be right there. She slipped her shoes back onto her feet and grabbed her backpack and her bag that was filled with her new dresses, “Looks like you’ll be a part of the gang in no time.” She smiled at Clara, it would be so nice to have another girl in the group as it could sometimes get enough with Jughead and Archie. Thea waited until Clara grabbed her things before they headed out of Clara’s house and towards Pop’s diner.