full dark, no stars

Clara had enjoyed every second of the ride, having enjoyed being as close to Jughead as she had been. She’d felt warm and safe and she’d enjoyed the way it felt to have the wind hitting her skin. When they parked, she offered an amused grin as she accepted his help, resting her hand in his to get off the bike, though she listened to him and laughed. “Perfect, huh?” she asked with amusement, grinning broadly as she watched him and ducked her head. “Thank you, Jughead.” It made her heart swell, hearing his words about her and she chewed on her lip. “You’re pretty perfect yourself, though.” Lifting her gaze, she eyed him and offered a grin before she slid her arm through his and nodded. “Yeah, come on, we should get inside.” She watched him for a moment but smiled as she began leading the way. “And I do’t care who else is staring, as long as you are. I definitely prefer your staring.” She grinned, unable to help it.

---

Archie grinned slightly as he took her in, loving the way her cheeks had warmed, unable to really take his eyes off of her. “I definitely think so,” he told her quietly, his grin broadening as he truly acknowledged how gorgeous she was. Taking her hand, he led her over to the dance floor gently, carefully, loving that he’d get to dance with her, that he’d get to hold her close, that he’d get to enjoy having her in his arms. Smiling as he peered down at her, he took her in for several long moments, resting his hands on her hips as he began to dance with her, holding her close to himself as they swayed to the music together. “You don’t have to thank me for this,” he told her quietly as he examined her, memorizing the way she looked under the assortment of lights that were lit up for the dance. “I should be thanking you for agreeing to come to the dance with me. I couldn’t imagine being here with anybody other than you, Thea. I wouldn’t want to be here with anybody other than you.”

How someone like Clara thought he was perfect, was foreign to him. He was far from perfect, but hearing the words come from her, made him wish the words were true and that he could believe them. Though he didn’t say anything, as he didn’t want to ruin the mood between them. “Oh, trust me, I’ll be staring at you so much that you’ll get sick of me.” He chuckled hoping that sentence wasn’t weird for her, but it was true, Jughead wouldn’t be staring at anyone other than her tonight and every other day that he saw her. Guiding Clara towards the high school, he pushed open a door and allowed her to step inside before him. He knew the whispers would soon flow the second someone noticed them together, Jughead was used to it but now wished nothing more than people to not notice him. Simply, to stop Clara having to go through the situation he was going to cause for them. Loud music filled the room and Jughead wanted to hide, but he couldn’t. He had asked Clara there for a reason, to spend time with her and to make sure she enjoyed herself. “I can get us a drink, or we could dance first, you decide.” He looked at her and left the choice up to her, this night was all about her in his opinion anyways.

---

Feeling his hands find her hips, Thea swore that her heart skipped a beat as she moved her hands up his arms until her arms were loosely wrapped around his neck. She was at a loss of words as she listened to him, he wouldn’t want to be there at the dance with anyone other than her. She had waited so long to hear those words from Archie, but now that she was hearing them, she didn’t know what to say back to him. She wanted to tell him that he would have enjoyed the night if he was there with someone else, that she didn’t want him to limit himself by bringing her to the dance. Thea kept those words to herself because she didn’t want him to be with anyone but her, she didn’t want to see him dancing with another girl, being close to another girl. “It’s a good thing that you asked me then,” She looked into his eyes as their bodies continued to sway to the music that was playing, “You do know that Reggie also asked me, right?” She had nearly laughed at Reggie when he had taken her aside in the hallway and asked her to the dance, he was the last person she would go anywhere with. But she wasn’t sure if Archie knew or not, “Not that I ever would. Not with how he treats Jug,” And he wasn’t her type, her type of guy was right in front of her.

Clara blinked as she listened to Jughead and, smiling, she ducked her head slightly to hide the warmth that was beginning to form on her cheeks. “I genuinely doubt that, Jughead,” she murmured quietly, though she was grateful to have his attention at all. She’d never thought she’d deserve a guy as kind and good as Jughead, and she knew she was getting her hopes up, but the more time she spent with him, the more she wanted to be better, the more she wanted to get better, the more she wanted to deserve somebody like him. She lifted her head when they got to the doors and, peering at Jughead, she offered a small grin. “Chin up, Jug. Let’s show these losers what they’re missing out on when it comes to you.” Winking teasingly, she led the way through the small crowd at the door, ignoring the stares they got, and hummed in thought as she thought over his question. “Well, which would you prefer?” she asked, peering over at him, not wanting to force him to do anything he didn’t want to do. She wanted him to have fun, too.

---

Archie couldn’t help the small grin that formed on his lips when he felt Thea’s arms around his neck and, mentally, he committed the feeling of her arms around him and the sight of her in that moment to memory, never wanting to forget it. “Yeah, definitely a good thing I asked you - an even better thing that you said yes,” he decided happily, though he blinked when she mentioned Reggie, his brows furrowing slightly, and he felt a rush of jealousy run through him so quickly that it took him a moment to really realize and recognize what it was. In that moment, when he realized what he was feeling, he had to remind himself of what Thea was saying, trying to focus on her rather than the jealousy he felt, and his heart eased a bit. “I’m glad you didn’t say yes to him,” he told her honestly, gently holding her closer to himself as they danced. “Really. I’d hate to see you here with anybody else.” And, he knew it probably wasn’t the best thing to ask and slightly gave away what he felt for her, but he couldn’t help it; he wanted her to know that he was happy that she’d chosen him.

Jughead knew that the other students weren’t missing out on anything when it comes to him, but he could feel heart swell knowing that Clara saw that there was more to him. He followed her as she made her way into the school, he ignored the stares that they were receiving as he was an expert at ignoring people. “Did you want to grab a drink first?” He asked as they had the whole night ahead of them for dancing, if that’s what Clara wanted. He would do whatever she wanted tonight, he wanted the night to be the best it could be for Clara as she deserved to enjoy herself. Walking over to the table where the bowl of punch was, he filled two plastic cups and handed one over to Clara to take. “Here’s to a great night,” He grinned as he looked at the beautiful blonde that he was lucky enough to have in his life, someone who he wanted to keep in his life because his feelings for her were very quickly developing. He knew that more students were staring at them, some were whispering with their friends. Jughead thought it would have bothered him more than what it was, but he didn’t actually care. He was here at the school dance with Clara, she had wanted to come with him to the dance and only him.

---

Thea smiled to herself which she tried to hide from Archie, hearing that Archie would hate to see her at the dance with anyone but him, made her smile as it was exactly what she wanted to hear. “Come on, Arch. You know me better than that, I know Reggie is your friend and all. I’d never say yes to him,” She looked at the redhead, Reggie was the last person she’d go to a dance with. Hell would need to freeze over first and even then, her answer would always be a flat-out no. If Archie hadn’t asked her to the dance, then she wouldn’t have even come tonight. She would have stayed at home or asked Pop if she could have a shift for the night, neither of them would have been as fun as spending her night with the guy she wanted to spend all her time with. Her fingers gently brushed the back of Archie’s neck as she danced with him, she was never going to forget how it felt having his arms around her. She wanted it to be a feeling that she would continue to feel, but she didn’t want to get too ahead of herself.

Clara looked to Jughead when he brought up the idea of getting drinks and, smiling, she nodded. “Sure, let’s do that,” she decided, following him to the punch bowl, her eyes peering around a bit, and she rolled her eyes at the stares they were getting. Looking back to Jughead, she smiled as she took the cup. “Thank you.” For a moment, she took him in, just enjoying being around him, and she wondered if he really was okay with being here, especially with the attention the two of them were getting. “I’m sorry about this, about the attention we’re getting. I know you’re not really into attention and everything, so I hope it’s not making you so uncomfortable that you never want to do this again.” She shifted a bit as she watched him, just wanting to continue to spend time with him - more than just this dance, as often as she could, as often as he wanted to - and wanting to get to know him better, to see if anything could grow between them.

---

Archie watched Thea, amazed by her, because she was perfection incarnate, and his heart warmed when she assured him that she would have never said yes to Reggie. “Good,” he told her quietly, happiness forming in his chest, because he honestly never wanted to see her with anybody else. As he watched her, he couldn’t help but admire her, because while she’d said she wouldn’t have said yes to Reggie, he was certain she would have let Reggie down in the nicest way possible, because that was just who she was - she was kind, thoughtful, and always put everybody around her before herself, and he knew she would never purposely hurt or upset anybody. “I’m really glad you agreed to come with me, in that case.” He grinned slightly as he took her in and winked teasingly. “Must make me pretty special.” And, while his tone was teasing and playful, he was hopeful, because he knew that all he wanted, all he needed, was for Thea to be his, and he knew that would make him the happiest guy alive, the happiest guy to ever even exist - because any guy would want Thea once they knew how wonderful she was, and the thought that he could be a guy that she wanted to be near brought on an amazing feeling that he didn’t want to ignore.

Jughead took a sip from his plastic cup as his attention automatically focused on Clara, as he listened to her voice he shook his head. “If I’m being honest, I thought the stares and whispers would bother me. But they actually don’t, I mean of course I’d rather they all get a life.” He took a quick glance around the room, finding the students who seemed to have nothing better to do then whisper about Clara being there with him. “But I can put up with them, if it means being here with you. Besides, I’m used to the stares and whispers.” He got some form of bullying everyday that he walked through the hallways of the high school, he was more than used to it. “You do make this dance all that much better too, I just think everyone is jealous that you came here with me.” He grinned as he looked at Clara, being at a school function was out of his comfort zone but he was there with Clara. He would do whatever he had to, so he could spend more time with her. “If your uncomfortable then we can ditch this and go somewhere else, just the two of us.” He wanted Clara to be comfortable and actually want to be there with him, but if the other students were ruining the night for her then he would happily take her away from them. Jughead would do whatever Clara wanted.

---

Thea smiled at Archie and chuckled softly, “You’re very special to me.” He always had been special to her, even when they were kids and she didn’t understand emotions like loving someone who wasn’t her family. It wasn’t long until the current song ended and another more upbeat song begins to fill the entire gym, “Did you want to keep dancing or we could go grab a drink, or sit somewhere?” She asked looking at the man she utterly adored. Thea didn’t want Archie to feel like he had to stick with her for the night, she wanted to give him the space to hang out with his other friends and dance with other people, if that is what he wanted to do. She still had Clara and her brother, so she wouldn’t be alone if Archie did want his space. Though she would also give Jughead his own time with Clara, because she could see what was happening with her brother. He was falling for Clara and that wasn’t something that she had ever seen, but she was glad that he had found Clara.

Clara looked up when Jughead started talking, and she focused on him, on what he had to say, wanting to listen, wanting him to know that she was listening. “I’m really glad to hear it,” she said with a small smile as she watched him, and she nodded slightly. “They’ll get bored of gossipping about us eventually, I’m sure.” Either way, she didn’t want to let it bother her, she didn’t want it to ruin hers or Jughead’s night; she just wanted to spend her time with Jughead, she wanted to focus on him, because a part of her felt like this was their night, a chance for them to just… Grow closer, to understand each other better, more. Still, hearing his later words, she offered a small grin and shook her head slightly. “Well, I don’t think they’re jealous. I think they just need something to gossip about.” She shrugged slightly. “I’m glad that I make this better, though… You make it better for me, too. I don’t think I would have come to the dance if I wasn’t coming with you. You make it worth it.” Smiling, she watched him, though she grinned slightly, listening, and she chewed on her lip. “I’m not uncomfortable. But, if you want to leave, we can.”

---

Archie was mildly surprised to hear Thea’s words, though his heart swelled in a way that he wasn’t entirely familiar with, and he was sure there was a warmth forming on his cheeks, but he grinned nonetheless, examining her for a few long moments. “You’re very special to me, too,” he told her quietly as he watched her, “Seriously, I can’t even imagine my life without you.” And, he couldn’t - he didn’t want to. She was perfection, everything he could ever ask for, and he knew that she was the most important person in his life, and he never wanted to lose her. Hell, he loved her, he knew that much, he just hadn’t been able to bring himself to tell her that yet. “We can do whatever you want,” he assured, his grin softening to a fond smile as he watched her, his eyes running over her features for any signs of distress or displeasure, only wanting to ensure that she enjoyed herself, wanting to do everything he could to ensure that. “I can get us drinks, if you want? Or, if you wanna dance to a specific song, I could go ask the DJ to play it?” He watched her with curiosity, waiting on her decision, only wanting to do whatever it took to make Thea happy, always wanting to see the smile on her features, loving the sight of it, loving her.

Jughead could handle the gossiping and part of him didn’t want the gossiping to stop, because the students were talking about him being with Clara and he didn’t want to be parted from her. “I disagree on that one, I definitely think that they’re all jealous of you. You are always so beautiful, you’re kind to everyone and you’re smart. Who wouldn’t be jealous of you,” Jughead wasn’t sure if he was being to forward but he was being honest with Clara, even though they had only just started hanging out recently because his dad told him to. But Clara was perfection in his eyes and he wanted to tell her that, he decided against it for now as he didn’t want to scare her away. Looking to the gorgeous blonde as she spoke, “There wasn’t anyone else that I wanted to ask. I’m glad you agreed to come with me,” He chuckled softly as he had partly expected her to tell him no, she had a boyfriend not long enough and most people thought Jughead was a freak. “No, I’m comfortable being here with you. We can stay for as long as you like,” He wanted the night to be special for Clara, she deserved to enjoy herself and to always remember this night.

---

Listening to Archie’s words only caused the love in her heart to grow for the redhead, “You won’t need to imagine that. You aren’t going to lose me, I’ll always be in your life.” Thea promised him as she also couldn’t imagine not having Archie in her life, she never wanted to think of a time when he would decide to leave her. She loved him so much, that if he were to leave or if he fell in love with someone else, she would let him go because she wanted him to be happy. If she wasn’t the person to make him happy, then she would take a step back from him which would be hard but it wasn’t impossible. Looking at him she smiled and nodded her head lightly, “Let’s go get a drink,” They did have all night to dance after all, it wasn’t like her dad had given her a curfew time of when he expected her to be home. Thea doubted her dad even knew she was at a school dance, he definitely wouldn’t know that Jughead was at a dance tonight. They could spend the entire night out if they wanted to, it would only be Thea going home as Jug still hadn’t returned home.

Clara looked mildly amused as she listened to Jughead, though she shook her head slightly, her cheeks warming. “I think you give me way too much credit, Jug,” she told him quietly, though hearing everything he said made her heart swell, because she knew Jughead wouldn’t say things like that unless he personally thought them, unless he personally believed them, and the thought that Jughead thought that highly of her made her so happy and so relieved. “I’m really glad you think all of that, though.” Lifting her gaze, her eyes ran over his features, and she smiled slightly. “Truly.”

In all honesty, she was surprised with how easy it was to just be with Jughead, how she wasn’t worried about doing something wrong, or pissing him off. He just made her feel so… Safe and happy. “I’m glad. I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else.” Grinning slightly, she nudged him, relieved with his words, glad that she got to be there with him, and she hoped that he managed to enjoy himself, because he deserved to have some fun, too. “You sure about that? Even if I drag you over to dance?”

---

Archie could feel relief flood through his veins as he listened to Thea quietly, and a smile former on his features as he took her in, letting her words sink in. "Good…" he told her quietly, not bothering to try to hide the relief in his voice, because he had no reason to hide it from Thea. "I don't think I could survive you not being in my life. You're just… That amazing, Thea. That perfect." And it was the truth, at least in Archie's eyes. Thea was the only person he knew who could ever possibly reflect or embody perfection; that was just how amazing she was. Kind, understanding, loving, always the person he could really on, and he couldn't thank her enough for that.

Still, he came back to the moment when he heard Thea mention getting drinks, and he nodded. "Oh, right, yeah, of course," he told her, offering a smile, "I can go grab some for us, if you wanna sit somewhere or if you wanna stand around and talk or dance more?" Really, he just wanted to do whatever it took to make her happy, to make sure she had a wonderful night at the dance, because she deserved that much and so much more, and he wanted to make sure she got everything she deserved, because he wanted her to have fun and enjoy herself.

Even in the dim room Jughead noticed the colour that formed on Clara’s cheeks, something that honestly never happened when he spoke to a girl. Not that it was often that he did talk to girls, but when he did it never turned out with them blushing. They normally always quickly made an excuse to leave, he wanted to see Clara blush more often because of him. “It’s not hard to see you in those ways, it’s how everyone should see you.” Jughead wasn’t going to be that guy who complimented a girl or who would say all the right things, if he didn’t think that someone was a good person then he wouldn’t tell them that they were. It wasn’t how he was as a human being.

The way he described Clara was exactly how he saw her. He smiled as a soft chuckle sounded in his throat when Clara mentioned dragging him onto the dance floor. “Only because it’s you dragging me out there, just don’t complain when I embarrass you.” He looked at her and still didn’t know how he had gotten this lucky, extending his hand towards Clara he watched her closely. “Shall we dance?” He asked with a grin on his face, the night was turning out to be so much better than what he planned inside his head.

---

“I’ll go find us a seat,” Thea smiled wanting to take a break from the dancing, even though she absolutely loved being so close to Archie. She wanted to sit down and talk and enjoy their night, before she suggested to dance again. Looking at Archie, Thea smiled as she stepped away from him and turned away so she could find them somewhere to sit. However, parting from Archie almost made Thea feel lost. Like he was a security blanket of sorts for her, like she needed him there with her so she could feel safe. Because she wouldn’t have gone to the dance if Archie hadn’t asked her to go with him, yet she pushed that feeling aside as she found them an empty table to sit at.

The table was towards the back of the gym, so that they could have some time just the two of them. As she made her way towards the table, she smiled when she noticed her brother seeming to be enjoying himself with Clara. Though, she didn’t interrupt as she wanted them both to have a fun time and to spend more time with each other.

Clara watched Jughead as she listened to him, surprised. A part of her was certain that he wouldn’t see her that way if he knew what she did. She chewed on her lip with the thought, but tried not to worry about it too much. For now, she just wanted to enjoy being with Jughead, wanted to enjoy the night with him. “Well… Thank you,” she murmured quietly, offering a small smile up at him, and she shifted, leaning to kiss his cheek gently, grateful for his words, for what he’d said. “It really means a lot to me.” And, she meant it, even if she was worried that he wouldn’t always believe his own words.

She grinned slightly, though, and shook her head. “You could never embarrass me, Jug,” she promised, amused as she watched him, though her grin broadened with his offer, and she nodded slightly. “I’d love that, actually,” she hummed happily, placing her hand in his, giving his hand a gentle squeeze before she led the way to the dance floor, tugging him along gently.

---

Archie smiled slightly and nodded as he watched Thea leave, though his heart missed her already. He chewed on his lip with the thought, wondering if it always felt like this to part from her and if he had only just now noticed it, or if it was a new experience. Either way, it just made him want to get back to her as quickly as he could, wanting to make sure that she would be okay, that she was safe. But, more than anything, he just wanted to be back near her, certain that it would put all his worries at ease. With that thought in mind, he moved quickly and swiftly through the crowd of students, heading to get them some drinks. It didn’t take long, thankfully, and before long, he was looking around for Thea.

When his gaze finally settled on her, his heart settled in his chest, glad she was safe. With a smile, he made his way over. “Got us the drinks,” he said as he held them up and set hers down in front of her gently before he sat down, scooting his chair closer to her, because he wanted to be close to her, needed to be close to her. He looked around for a moment, though, and grinned to himself. “You picked a pretty nice spot. It’s a safe distance from the crowd, but also in a spot where the music won’t be too loud, so we can actually talk and enjoy ourselves.”

“No need to thank me,” Jughead smiled as he willingly followed Clara onto the dance floor, “Don’t speak too soon. You haven’t seen how I dance yet,” He chuckled softly as he knew he couldn’t dance and he most likely would embarrass Clara, which he didn’t want to do but he wanted to dance with her more. He wanted to be close to her, to hold her body close to his and to have his arms wrapped around her. To see her smile and hear her laugh, he just wanted her to have fun and to enjoy the night because she deserved that. At that moment he didn’t care if people stared at him, laughed at him. Because he was there at the school dance with the most beautiful person, that’s what he cared about.

Holding onto her hand, he smiled as he lifted his arm and made Clara twirl. Watching as her hair fell around her shoulders, Jughead didn’t know how he had gotten so lucky. To be there with Clara. He couldn’t help but smile as he gently pulled her in closer to him, his hand finding her waist as he wanted her to be as close to him as possible.

---

Thea smiled when her eyes landed back on Archie, “Thank you,” She took the drink and sipped it slowly, trying not to think too much into how Archie had moved his chair closer to her. Her mind desperately wanted to run wild with the reason why he moved closer to her, but in the end, she decided that it was just so they would be able to hear each other over the music and the loud chatter of the other students.

“I thought this would be a good place to sit, give us some space to talk.” She smiled looking over at him as she set the cup back down onto the table, “Those two look like their having a good time,” She mentioned spotting her brother dancing with Clara, a sight that she never thought she’d see. “I hope your still having a good time,” She looked at Archie as she wanted him to have a fun night, to enjoy himself and her company.