Down We Go
Summary: You find out that Archie cheated on you.
“Hello? Earth to Y/N!” Jughead was waving his hand in front of your eyes, you realized, as you shook your head absentmindedly. “Welcome back, Sleepy,” he chuckled and sat back into his seat at the lunch table.
Everyone’s eyes were on you as you had zoned out without realizing. “You okay, babe?” Archie asked and stroke your hand with his thumb under the table, hence making you smile. Resting your head on his shoulder and taking a deep breath, calming down from his scent, you added:
“Yeah, I’m good, just stressed about the geography test, I’ve barely had time to study between everything that’s been going on.” While this was true, it wasn’t the whole truth. For some time now, Veronica and Archie had exchanged weird looks between each other. Thinking they’d only had a disagreement or something, you ignored it, but they were still going at it. It made you quite uneasy.
“Tell me about it,” Betty giggled and Jughead turned to her with a smirk, nodding his head slightly in agreement. Kevin and Archie both hummed in unison, agreeing with the rest of you. Veronica, who was sat beside Archie, nodded slightly as well.
During the rest of lunch, your table was full of chatter and laughter. As the bell rang, the six of you had science together, so hand in hand, you and Archie led the gang to the hour-long class.
Science wasn’t so bad, you thought, as you sat beside Betty on the second row in the student-filled classroom. Sitting by the desk in front of you all, was the teacher, who had given you permission to prepare for a presentation you were supposed to hold next week, so you and your partner Betty prepared the best you could. Being partnered up with a friend both had pros and cons. Since you had been friends since like, forever, you tended to get lost in subjects different than those you were meant to, which only prolonged the time it’d take for you to finish the assignment. At the same time, because of your friendship you could skip the whole awkward stage in the beginning where you try and sort out who’s doing what.
“Hey, Betty? You know you can tell me everything, right?” You, unintentionally, interrupted Betty as she was speaking about something in your PowerPoint. You’d zoned out again, thinking of Archie and Veronica. While it was Jug that sat beside your boyfriend at this moment, Veronica sat behind them with Kevin, and the stares Archie’s back received from her were… odd.
“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“No, yeah, I know, I’m sorry for asking that,” shaking your head and closing your eyes, you smiled apologetically towards her, sorry for phrasing your question accusingly. “It’s just - you’d tell me if there was something going on between Arch and V, right?” At this, she seemed to freeze, which led to your heart almost stopping. She glanced over at Archie who sat in front row with her own boyfriend before turning her eyes back to you. They almost looked guilty. “Betty, is there something going on between them?”
The blonde girl beside you almost flinched at the sadness in your last question. She didn’t know what to do. Veronica had come clean to Betty about Archie and her in confidence, and promised that she and Archie would tell you, not that they had. Betty had tried to tell you once, but she had been interrupted by Archie who sneaked up behind you and stole a kiss for himself. However, he didn’t know Betty was trying to tell you, he was just trying to make you happy.
“They slept together. I’m sorry for not telling you, Veronica promised that they would. I didn’t think it’d take this long fo-”
“This long? When did it happen?”
Betty looked down at the table, ashamed. “A month ago.”
While it was imaginary, it felt like the whole world stopped around you. The air was suddenly frozen and you couldn’t breathe. You desperately started gasping for it. Betty put her arm around you and helped you stand up, quickly walking out of the classroom and heading for the nearest place she deemed safe. Tears were streaming down your face and you could barely breathe. Everything happened really fast, you were only half aware of where you were.
On the way out, everyone had stared at you, Archie the most. The first thought that sprung to his mind was that you’d found out. And so, with a glance at Jug so quick none of them even realized, he was out of the classroom and after the two girls he’d known all his life.
Archie found you, sitting with Betty, at the table all of you had sat by during lunch. She was holding her hands on each side of your head, leaning her forehead against yours, trying to console you. He stopped in the entrance of the cafeteria and looked at you. He knew in his heart that he was the cause of this, and for that, he hated himself. He’s always had your back, against your family, friends - everyone. Knowing he was the reason for the scene in front of him killed him. Yet, he approached the two of you carefully, laying his hand on Betty’s shoulder and telling her, with a look, that he wanted to talk to you. Only you.
The blonde girl gave him a sad look, but nodded nonetheless and stood up from the bench where she sat with you. Archie took her place and looked at you. Hands covering your eyes, shoulders shaking as you cried and hair messy. “Y/N.”
At the sound of your name, you looked up and saw your boyfriend. You took a deep, shaky breath and wiped your cheeks. Tears were still running down them, but at least you tried.
“I’m sorry I was with Veronica. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” Looking at you while apologizing might have been the hardest thing Archie had ever done. He couldn’t help himself, he started crying as well. “God, I’m so so sorry, you don’t deserve any of this, I’d take it all back if I could.”
You moved your hands up to his cheeks and wiped them. “Please don’t cry Archie, you know I hate it when you do.” While saying this you cried even more, which broke the red-head’s heart. For a few minutes you just sat there, the presence of the other calming you. The two of you listened to each other’s breathing until eventually both of you stopped crying. Two heartbroken teens sat beside each other, holding each other, comforting each other.
You looked into Archie’s brown eyes, breaking the silence; “I think we should break up.”
Archie didn’t reply. He didn’t want to break up. He did not love Veronica, he loved you. He knew that. However, he understood how you were feeling, and how the situation looked from your point of view.
“I love you, Y/N,” he said, voice cracking at the end of your name.
You smiled at him, a small, comforting smile. “I love you too.”
