Chapter Text
Following a rather exhilarating morning in the worst way possible, Jughead and Archie were thankfully given a relatively calm and peaceful afternoon afterwards.
Their tours of various history museums and historical monuments and buildings were interesting, but definitely very relaxing. Jughead wasn’t complaining, they needed it after the clusterfuck that was this morning, Archie more so than him.
There was something about history that put Jughead’s mind at ease. He struggled a lot with the meaning of things and understanding his place and why things came to be. It was the way his mind worked, it was a blessing yet a curse at the same time. History answered a lot of his questions for him, so today was pretty calming for him.
Jughead knew that Archie wasn’t exactly a history nerd, but Jughead had known Archie for his whole life, he knew that Archie was content. Archie was content having free reign and being able to just walk in peace with his best friend with no fear of everyone else around him. His mind was at ease, far away from algebra and other mathematical equations that made him want to gently fling himself out of a window, and was surrounded by two very old things. One of them giving him a very nice sense of familiarity and homeliness.
It was a pretty lovely day, they had both agreed. Jughead had been looking forward to a peaceful ride home, sharing his music with Archie and vice versa (they didn’t need to speak to communicate, him and Archie, they were way beyond that) but unfortunately the Jones bad luck curse seemed to have infested his poor best friend.
Their seemingly steady and calm scenic route train ride turned out to be an extreme rollercoaster.
It had started out fine. Archie was getting Jughead to listen to a song he saw as inspiration for his own, which he obliged to happily munching on a bag of chips. They had small talk, the other kids were loud, but everything was fine.
Then gradually Archie stopped initiating the talks, then stopped speaking all together. Then he was slowly cradling his stomach with his arms, hunching over as he held it tightly. Then Archie was going pale.
“Archie?” Jughead asked cautiously,
“Jughead,” Archie choked.
“You don’t look so good,” Jughead said carefully.
Archie nodded his head carefully as not to trigger his body into bursting into a disgusting explosion. He leaned his head back against the chair and scrunched his face up in pain, biting at his lip.
Jughead’s heart dropped. This certainly seemed so much worse than it had been earlier that day. There was no stopping what was to come; rather, all Jughead could do was stall it for as long as he could until they got to their break in approximately 20 minutes.
Jughead took in a shaky breath, closing his eyes momentarily to brace himself for the next period of time. He could do this. For Archie.
“We are going to get you through this, okay, Archie?” Jughead said gently. “Hang on, okay? Just listen to me.”
“Okay,” Archie managed to choke out through his gritted teeth, fearing to open his eyes.
“Really quickly, how’re you feeling?” Jughead asks sternly, straightening up to prepare himself.
Archie smirked slightly, “You know, concern isn’t a look that I would expect from you, but it suits you real good.”
Jughead batted him playfully on the arm, rolling his eyes, “Oh fuck off, I’m not concerned, just don’t want your sick all over me.”
Archie laughed, to Jughead’s delight, happy that he could distract his friend for at least a little while.
“There’s just..too much of everything. Like my stomach feels like a washing machine and it smells awfully of that stupid can air freshener..”
Jughead inhaled the sickly sweet smell of the bus and made a face at the smell. He stifled a sneeze against the back of his hand and groaned, nodding in agreement. As a child Jughead would never understand Archie’s hissy fits about those air fresheners. The smell was quite faint in the past, and Archie felt sick then, but now the smell was so pungent that even Jughead didn’t appreciate it, so Jughead could only wonder how awful Archie felt in this moment.
“It’s just too much,” Archie choked out, grabbing at the seat and clutching onto it tight.
Jughead sighed and smiled sympathetically at him, letting out a shaky breath and offering Archie his hand to squeeze.
Archie cracked an eye open, “You sure?”
Jughead nodded firmly, his smile warm and welcoming. Archie couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face and grabbed at Jughead’s hand, squeezing it as his stomach continued to whirl uncomfortably.
“My head hurts, I just want to think about something else,” Archie whimpered, leaning his head way back into the bus seat.
“Then lets talk about something else,” Jughead said softly.
A fond smirk began to play at Jughead’s lips, “Do you remember when I broke my arm for the first time when we were like, what, 7?”
Archie scoffed, “As if I could forget, it was the scariest moment of my life.”
Jughead’s eyes shone with a mischievous light, “What? You were so scared of losing me?”
Archie huffed, “Pfft, no, I just didn’t want your blood in my line of sight. Disgusting.”
Jughead laughed heartily, “Gee, thanks.”
“No, but seriously? None of this would’ve happened if Alice Cooper had just appreciated me for all my honour and beauty,” Jughead joked.
“She was just jealous of your luscious, dark and brooding locks and your mysterious, icy eyes,” Archie joked.
“It’s odd though, considering the human incarnation of the nefarious devil himself happened to spawn an actual angel,” Jughead commented.
“Yeah. Betty must be adopted.”
Jughead chuckled, “Agreed.”
“She’s such an angel that we had to smuggle ourselves into her house,” Archie laughed.
“Oh yeah. Well, you didn’t have to–I had to. We’d stolen your dad’s ladder, remember? I don’t even fucking remember how we got that past him. It made so much noise.”
“Oh god, yeah, that screechy ‘eeeeeeerrrrrrkkkkk’!” Archie chuckled.
Jughead giggled, “Oh god, that takes me right back! And you know what, fuck the gender norms, that tea party with Mrs.Fuzzy Bear was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life!”
Archie bounced slightly in his seat as he beamed, “Oh my god, yes! With those cookies Polly had stolen for us too?? The best meal I’ve ever had!”
Jughead laughed, “Until Alice chased me out and I fell out of the window!”
“Oh my god, my dad was raging! He was angry..so was your dad when he found out! My dad and your dad had the funniest rant that night..” Archie said.
“Hey, we got ice cream and pizza that night for free ala the Coopers?” Jughead chimed in.
Archie chuckled, “The one good thing to come from that incident. ..Wait..holy shit Jug, are you saying something positive for once?”
Jughead rolled his eyes, “I fear my negativity and gloom sparks a negative reaction in your body and I really do not want puke on me. I like this jacket.”
Archie scoffed, “You’ve had that jacket since you were 12, Jug. It was huge on you, and now it finally fits. It’s old though–should probably get a new one, but it’s kinda endearing that way. Makes you look soft.”
“Soft?!” Jughead exclaimed defensively.
Archie laughed at that, and in these blissful moments with his best friend any trace of illness and nausea seemed to fade away.
Until the bus started to shake as it hit a bumpy road, and everyone began yelling in mock fear. And everything was starting again. Too much.
Archie let out a whimper of discomfort as his stomach contracted and cramped again. He retreated into himself and clutched his stomach with pain. He gagged, clamping a hand over his mouth as he bit his lip to stop himself.
Jughead’s eyes widened in concern as he squeezed Archie’s hand comfortingly and tried to shoot him a reassuring smile, “We’re pulling up in just a bit, Archie. You are going to be okay. Hang on just a little bit longer.”
Archie could only nod, hanging tight onto Jughead amidst all the chaos that ensued. His grip on Jughead was so firm but yet shaky like entire world depended on him, and in a way it did. And Jughead understood, and there was no way he would have ever let go.
The moment the bus came to a halt at the gas station Jughead leapt to his feet with Archie hot on his heels. The two sprinted faster than they ever had in their lives (it wasn’t too fast for Archie, the athlete, but for Jughead who probably didn’t even know what a sport was, it was really something) off the bus.
“Woah, what the fuck?” Chuck blinked, slightly bewildered.
“This bus stinks heavily of you, and I need a fucking break!” Jughead shot back wittily and smoothly, before he glided off the bus and towards the bathrooms.
Archie ran like his entire life depended on it and yanked the bathroom doors open, bursting into a stall and immediately dropped to his knees. Almost instantaneously his stomach cramped horribly and he gagged, then heaved, and expelled the contents of his stomach.
Archie threw up, his stomach contracting and heaving until it finally felt okay again. It was a marvellous relief, and there was a relieving clarity that washed over his entire body. He felt lighter, and a sense of wholesomeness spread throughout him and everything seemed to fit together. Everything was okay.
“You got me through it,” Archie choked out, fondness oozing out of his voice.
Jughead rubbed his back soothingly, “Of course I did.”
Archie got up off the ground and fixed himself up, gargling water and making sure he was okay again. He made a note to himself to forever appreciate and cherish his healthy moments, because he never wanted to feel that nauseous ever again.
“See? Told you you’d be okay. After all you’ve got me by your side,” Jughead smirked.
“Sure,” Archie chuckled playfully, batting Jughead on the arm.
They’d spent the rest of their break relaxing; and Archie could only bask in the warm and relieving feeling. He felt enlightened somehow. A lot lighter. A sense of calm and meditation washing over him.
And when they got onto the bus, another lightening thing happened.
“Glad you feel better, Arch,” Reggie said quietly so only the two of them could hear, a kind smile on his face.
Jughead and Archie exchanged a look and couldn’t stop the grins that spread over their faces. They felt so giddy and relaxed and it was amazing.
Jughead flopped onto his seat and stretched, finally able to relax after the absolute chaos that was earlier. He felt a lot lighter too.
“Now that you’re not the green goblin, how’s about we listen to some good old music on the way back?” Jughead suggested, a mischievous light sparkling in his eyes.
“Fuck yeah,” Archie grinned, letting himself relax and popping one of Jughead’s ear buds in. He sighed with content as he lost himself in The Middle.
Everything, everything will be alright..