"I told you it's…" Jughead wanted to run. He wanted to turn around – away from his home and from Nora Rhodes and from the situation that he had put himself in – and run. Instead, he readjusted the beanie that sat on his head and glanced at Nora out of the corner of his eye.

She didn't say anything, didn't try to tell him not to worry or that it was everything she had hoped for. Instead, she looked around the booth with curious eyes, taking everything in, before she stepped inside for a closer look. She walked over to the projector in the middle of the room, her fingers running across the rim of the large wheel that was used to run the film. She kept walking further inside, briefly stopping to look at the reels of film stacked in high piles on a table in the corner.

Then she ventured to the other side of the room, where Jughead had been living. She looked at the posters that he had stuck to the walls (both from horror films dating back to the 50's), and the papers sprawled out on his desk. Assignments and homework from school. She saw his chemistry assignment stapled together amongst the mess, and made a mental note to finish her assignment soon, too.

She looked down at his mattress, which was pressed against the wall between his desk and a film cabinet. It was dipped in the middle and looked entirely uncomfortable, propped up off the floor by 2 crates pushed together into a makeshift bed frame. Despite its shabby appearance, Nora sat down on the end of it anyway. She was surprised to feel that the mattress wasn't as hard as she had expected.

She finally looked up at Jughead and saw him still hovering in the doorway. He was staring off into space, and Nora wondered if he was just trying to maintain his façade or if he really was just bored. Though he'd never tell her, Jughead was trying his damnedest not too look as awkward as he felt in that moment. He had never even told anyone about his living situation, let alone allowed them to inspect every fine detail of the projection booth he called 'home'.

Nora looked at him until Jughead's eyes darted down to meet hers. When they finally did, she smiled lightly and tapped the empty space beside her on the mattress. Jughead's eyes followed her motion, but he hesitated in the doorway a moment longer before deciding to walk inside and close the door behind him. Though it was already pitch black outside, it somehow felt darker in the projection booth with the door closed, shutting them off from the outside world. Instead of sitting beside her on the bed, Jughead strode across the small room and leant against the edge of his desk.

"So," Nora dragged the word out, leaning back on her hands and elongating her neck as she looked up to the ceiling. Jughead involuntarily gulped. "How did you find this place, anyway?"

"If I'm not at school or the diner, I'm here working anyway, so-,"

"Wait, you work here?" Nora cut him off, head snapping back up to look at him. Jughead shrugged, nodding in affirmative. "So does that mean… you can operate the projector?" She grinned at him, baring the white of her teeth. Her eyes seemed to shine a little, Jughead realised, with mischief.

"No. We can't. No." Jughead denied Nora her request before she had even asked, and Nora couldn't help but be surprised at his perceptiveness.

"Oh, come on! Just one movie?" Nora slumped her shoulders sadly, looking up at him through her eyelashes. Jughead had to remind himself that she was just a girl, and he absolutely could not risk his job and his cover being blown by letting her watch a movie. Even if it did mean that she would keep looking at him like that.

"I can't. If someone saw, then they'd know I was here this late. They'd find out, and then I'd be homeless." Jughead crossed his arms and tried his best not to jump when Nora sprung up from the mattress and was suddenly standing in front of him. She didn't even hesitate before grabbing his hands, uncrossing his arms and lacing his fingers through hers.

"No one would ever know." She whispered in a sing-song voice, their intertwined hands swinging back and forth lightly as she rocked on the heels of her feet. Jughead realised in that moment that Nora Rhodes was no ordinary teenage girl. She was a succubus, sent to Earth to have him fired from his job and kicked out onto the streets. Sent to ruin his life.

"Do you want me to be homeless?" Jughead stressed. He tried to pull his hands out of hers, but Nora tightened her grip. He didn't try again.

Nora looked at him for a long moment, studied the exasperated look on his face, before she finally relented. Jughead pretended he didn't miss the warmth when she let go of his hands and sat back down on the mattress.

This time though, Jughead sat down beside her. Nora smiled lightly when she felt the mattress dip beside her to accommodate his weight, and Jughead noted that this was another genuine smile. He had counted two, so far, this evening. That was a startling few.

They sat in silence for a while after that. Jughead began to feel his eyes droop with the haze of sleep, and wondered absently what time it was. He hoped that she was tired too, and would fall asleep soon. Then he could figure out where he was going to sleep and finally put his mind to rest. He almost jumped when Nora spoke again, her voice a little raspy but still very much awake.

"What are you always writing on your laptop?" As she asked the question, she scooted back on the mattress until her back hit the wall. Jughead followed suit, allowing himself to slump down slightly. He flinched when Nora copied his slouch, and in her adjusted position her arm was resting against his. There it was, Jughead thought. That warmth again.

"Is it a novel or something?" Jughead realised he hadn't answered her question when Nora spoke again. He was too busy ignoring the feeling of her skin against his. What was wrong with him tonight? Getting swept away by a girl wasn't the sort of thing Jughead did. Archie, sure. But not Jughead.

"Something like that." Jughead finally answered, letting a yawn out after he finished speaking.

"What's it about?" Nora asked.

"Us." Jughead blurted it before his brain had comprehended the word. He quickly kept talking to cover up his blunder. "Everything. This town. It's mostly about Jason Blossom though. His death, I mean." Jughead was far from eloquent when he was tired, it seemed.

"Ah. Is it a mystery then?" Nora didn't seem fazed by Jughead's rambling. Seemed to skirt over it entirely, in fact.

"Is Jason Blossom's death a mystery?" Jughead countered. "As far as Riverdale knows, Jason Blossom drowned. Nothing mysterious about that."

"Except that they never found his body."

There was a long silence, and Nora thought Jughead may have fallen asleep beside her.

"Yeah, it's a mystery." Silence. And then, "Just like you." Nora turned her head towards Jughead, and she took a moment to stare at the features of his face. She noticed the freckles that littered his face and neck, and briefly wondered if they covered his entire body.

"I'm not a mystery." She told him, shaking her head lightly at the thought. "The clues have been there all along. It's just that, I suppose, no one bothered to look before now. They only look once you make them, you know."

Jughead could feel her stare burning into the side of his head and he turned to meet her gaze. Up close, the sadness in her eyes was much more noticeable.

"Hm. Typical small town tragedy then, is it? Everyone looks away and pretends they don't notice, until one day you decide to chop off all your hair and show the world how much you hate it?" Jughead sometimes didn't realise when he was being cruel, but if Nora was upset by his words, she didn't let it show.

"Or until they find your body washed up on the shore of the river." Nora shot back at him.

"Or not find your body." Jughead countered. Nora didn't respond, and they sat in silence for a long moment.

"You seem pretty hung up on Jason's death." Jughead finally pointed out, breaking the silence that had settled over them.

"I guess it's just weird, a kid dying at our age." Nora shrugged her shoulders, letting out a deep sigh. She slumped a little further against the wall. "I mean; 17 years isn't enough. We have so much living left to do still."

"If it makes you feel any better, I've heard drowning is one of the most peaceful ways to die." Jughead offered. He heard Nora scoff, and figured that it did not make her feel any better.

"I wouldn't like to drown." Nora told him softly. She paused for a long moment, then let her head drop down to the side and rest against Jughead's shoulder. He tried his best not to stiffen at the feeling. "I'd jump from the tallest building I could find. It would feel like you're flying."

Jughead gulped, partially because of the morbidity or her sentence and partially because the weight of her head on his shoulder was making his chest tighten.

"I wouldn't mind drowning, I think." Jughead finally told her. "Not until I'm old, though. Maybe when I'm 65 or 70."

"That's not that old." Nora argued.

"I don't want my mind to go bad. It's the only thing I have." The words were coming out of Jughead's mouth so easily, and he was startled by how freely he was speaking to her. He wondered if it was because he trusted Nora, or because it was easier to say these things in the darkness of the night.

"Don't limit yourself to just that." Nora whispered. Jughead could hear how tired she was by the way her words were slurring together.

"I'm not the guy that gets the pretty girl or has loads of friends. All I have is my brain and my words." He told her adamantly. He wasn't saying it because he wanted validation, he was saying it because it was true. Growing up with Archie Andrews as his best friend, that fact was always painfully obvious.

Nora lifted her head off of his shoulder and Jughead thought that he had upset her. But then she was turning her body towards him and reaching up to place her hand gingerly against his cheek. He looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, and it took him longer than it should have to comprehend the feeling of her lips against his. But then he realised that her lips were against his, and she was kissing him, and without quite realising it Jughead was kissing her back.

But then in the next second Nora pulled away and slumped back down beside him, and Jughead felt like he was drunk because his head wouldn't stop spinning.

"Don't think into that too much. I just figured it was quicker than arguing with you over your worth." Nora whispered as she rested her head back against his shoulder again.

Jughead wondered if he should be upset that his first kiss, as sad as that was to admit, was to shut him up. But somehow he couldn't bring himself to care, because his lips still tingled and he hadn't thought it possible for someone's lips to be so soft. But Nora's were that soft. He thought that if all girls' lips felt like that, then maybe he could see the appeal of kissing.

"Are you tired?" Nora asked him quietly.

"No." Jughead answered, even though he was. He was so tired, but suddenly he felt wide awake.

"Me neither." Nora told him, but then she was pushing him down until his back was on the mattress and she had room to curl up next to him. His heart was beating so fast he feared it would break out of his chest, and he worried that Nora could hear it from where she lay beside him. If she could, she had the courtesy not to mention it.

"Goodnight Jughead." She whispered. Jughead wanted to tell her that there was not enough room on his single mattress for two people. He wanted to tell her that her legs were already intertwining with his and that it would be much better for him to sleep on the floor. He wanted to tell her that he was scared to touch her, because he didn't like the completely foreign way that she was making him feel.

Nora reached up and grabbed his beanie, pulling it off of his head and tossing it carelessly to the floor beneath them. And then she let her hand relax against his chest, and she scrunched up the material of his shirt between her fingers, and any words that Jughead had planned on saying dissolved on his tongue.

Against all of his better judgement, Jughead let her nuzzle into him and didn't try to stop her when she curled her smooth legs around his. Instead, he pulled the sheet over them as best as he could and tried to control the rapid beating in his chest. He closed his eyes, although he was sure he wouldn't sleep tonight. Or maybe, Jughead thought, he was already dreaming. It seemed far more logical than this – than Nora Rhodes curled into him, sleeping soundly by his side.

"Goodnight Nora." Jughead breathed into the silence. Nora didn't hear the catch in his throat when he said her name, because she was already fast asleep.

a/n

Sorry for the delay in this chapter, I've been a little busy recently!

What did you guys think of this one? (did you like the kiss?)

Let me know what you wanna see in the future of this story, and I'll be back (hopefully sooner this time) with another chapter. :)