Summary: The reader and Jughead are asked to help Kevin by recording the making of ‘Carrie: The Musical’.
A/N: Hey guys! I managed to get my first one-shot out for this blog! WOO! I hope you guys enjoy this idea that I had inspired by Episode 2x18. Bear with me as it is my first time writing with these characters :)
“Carrie the Musical will be the most epic three-night-spectacular of your lives,” Kevin announced to the group, looking way too excited and enthusiastic for a Monday morning. “You all have to be part of it!”
At that moment, you and Jughead let out a simultaneous groan. Kevin, Betty, Veronica and Archie looked over at the pair of you.
“Oh, come on Y/N!” Betty exclaimed, “I understand Jug not wanting to sing and dance, but why not you? I’ve heard you sing to yourself, and you’re great!”
You just shook your head as Betty was speaking. Singing? Sure it was fun to do when the only audience you had to worry about was your shower curtain. But singing on stage with over 100 pairs of eyes on you was too far a stretch for your liking.
“I’m sorry guys, but I just wouldn’t do the story justice,” you sighed. “Plus, I’m afraid you’d get a whole lot of stage fright when I’m in that spotlight. You wouldn’t want that Kevin, now would you?”
“Don’t you think we all feel a bit nervous about performing to half of Riverdale?” Archie added plainly.
“Says you Archie! At least you and V have performed on a stage before, on several occasions might I add,” you exclaimed, frustrated that no-one really seemed to understand what you were feeling. Although you did glance your eyes over to Jughead and he seemed just as uncomfortable at the conversation as you.
“Enough!” Kevin cut in, “As much as I love you Y/N, I need to have the very best and most professional actors that I can to make ‘Carrie’ iconic again!”
“Great!” you breathed, “Problem sorted then.”
You heard Jughead give a small breath of laughter, only just audible enough for you to hear.
“But just hold on one moment, Y/N. You and Jughead can’t just not be involved with my impending masterpiece, even if you aren’t confident enough to share your musical gift… or lack thereof,” Kevin said, looking Jughead’s way, causing Jughead to just roll his eyes.
Kevin continued, “So it’s settled. You will both be assigned to documenting every behind-the-scenes action and music practice session, in order to keep this feeling alive forever!” Kevin looked like he was in a state of total euphoria, before quickly grabbing his books, that laid on the bench you were all seated at, and walking away.
You and the core four all looked around at one another, knowing that the next few weeks were going to be crazy.
It was the afternoon of the same day that Kevin had told you the way in which you would still be involved with ‘Carrie’, and the bell had just gone to alert you that is was time to head home and sleep the rest of the day away. You were packing your biology books into your bag, when you saw the glimpse of a beanie-wearing guy sit into the recently-empty seat next to you.
“So Y/N,” Jughead began with a sigh, “I guess we should try and talk about how we are going to manage this thing out. Otherwise I know Kevin will be giving us grief until we actually start filming.”
“Yeah I suppose we should,” you added. You made it sound so casual and laidback for someone whose heart felt like it was going a million miles an hour. Fortunately, you were the only one who knew your true feelings towards Jughead, because if anyone, especially Veronica, found out, you knew that they would bug you until you made a move. You weren’t ready to tell anyone. Not yet.
“How about we get out of this dingy prison they have so lovingly nicknamed ‘school’, and head to Pop’s to talk more?” you suggested, which got a laugh out of Jughead. He nodded, quickly hopping up from his seat, and gesturing for you to link your arm with his. You knew that he was just being Jughead, but you couldn’t help your cheeks turn a light shade of red. You accepted the offer and wandered out the classroom and onward to Pop’s Diner.
It was a week after you met up with Juggie at Pop’s to discuss how you would negotiate sharing the role of documenting the entire process of creating ‘Carrie’. It was such a special afternoon, just you two alone, eating your go-to burgers and talking until the sun began to slip behind the treeline.
Rehearsals began this afternoon, after school, and you agreed to meet Jughead outside the school auditorium a few minutes before rehearsal was scheduled to start.
You were there way too early, that you waited a good 10 minutes before he turned up.
“Hey Y/N, have you been waiting here long?” he asked, before you shook your head.
The pair of you made your way inside the auditorium, taking a seat in the general audience seats. Jughead began to pull out two cameras from his bag, setting them down on the seat in between the both of you.
“Alright, so like we agreed, I’ll video,” he muttered as he continued to grab other cords and tidbits from his bag, “And you shall photograph what should be a ‘life-changing musical.’” He spoke in imitation of Kevin’s often over-the-top enthusiasm.
You gave a small laugh at the Southside Serpent, and picked up a camera, before quickly taking a photo of Jughead.
“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to be taking photos of anyone but me?” Jughead asked, confusion and laughter in his tone.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Jughead Jones,” you responded, smiling as you brought the camera back up to your eyes and took another candid shot of him. When you viewed the photo you had just taken, you couldn’t help but feel your heart melt.
The next week felt like it went by extremely quickly, with rehearsals every day after school, and both days of the weekend. Even though you weren’t singing or dancing or doing any acting, taking photos of everyone that was performing made you feel exhausted just trying to keep up with them.
But while it was a tiring week, it was always worth it. You wish you could say it was because you were helping out one of your closest friends, Kevin, to document his artistry. But then you would be lying.
Spending every day and so many moments with Jughead was what made everything worth it. You had so many opportunities to chat and laugh, and even if you didn’t want to admit it, enjoy the musical performances together.
Although you were both on documenting protocol, they were often times that you weren’t with one another, as you may have been up on stage getting up-close footage of Cheryl as Carrie White, or the intimate love songs that Archie and Betty would sing to one another. In fact, you even captured a hilarious photograph of Veronica’s face of jealousy and pettiness when the pair were singing. Oh goodness, that girl was such a classic.
You actually hadn’t seen any of the footage that Jughead had taken during the week, as he insisted it was no good, and needed to be edited together in an interesting montage style video before being viewed by anyone.
It was nearing the end of the 9th day of rehearsals, and both you and Jughead were doing your own thing, capturing photos and video of the cast singing the finale song, until Kevin called cut to finish the scene.
“Thank you for all of your hard work everyone, I will see you tomorrow same time, same place!” Kevin yelled out to the cast on stage, and motioned for everyone to move out of the auditorium, before shouting again, “Jughead and Y/N! Can you please meet me over by the stage please?”
Jughead was already side of stage, so he slowly wandered out and sat on the edge of the stage, legs dangling down and lay his camera beside him. You walked quickly from the back of the auditorium to the stage, and stood beside Kevin, who was in front of Jughead.
“Alright guys,” Kevin began, “I thought since we are about half way through rehearsals now, I was wondering if I could see what you guys have documented so far! Then I can know if we need any more snaps of anything else.”
“Sure!” you said excitedly, knowing full well you were actually super proud of the photos you had taken, and knew that Kev would be excited to see them as well. But as you said that, Jughead quickly stood up.
“Actually sorry Kevin,” Jughead started to explain, “I actually would prefer it if you saw the end product of the video. It’s just that I don’t really think that it looks…”
Jughead was quickly interrupted by Kevin snatching away the camera from the stage, from where Jughead had left it, and began to turn it on.
“I’m sorry Jughead, but I will feel much better about the end product if I know what the footage is like,” Kevin explained.
Kevin pressed play on one of the videos taken a few days earlier, and Jughead jumped from the stage trying to stop him, but you quickly pushed him away, trying to see the video for yourself.
The video began showing Veronica starting her solo song, and began to pan to the backup dancers who were clicking to the beat. So far it was looking really great, and you saw Kev smile at the sight of his masterpiece.
The footage continued to go between Veronica and the backup dancers for a little while, before it began to pan around to the rows of seats where the audience would sit. Where you were sitting. The video began to zoom in closer and closer, till it was just you in the frame. You saw yourself snapping a few photos with the flash going off. Each time you took a photo, you saw yourself look down at your camera and smile at the photo you had just taken. It felt like you were being filmed for what felt like over a minute before the video finally ended.
Why would he film you? Was it just part of the documenting process? Maybe it was just that one video.
You looked over at Jughead for a response, and he was just sitting back on the stage, head in his hands. Kev looked slightly confused, but moved across to the next video and hit play.
This time the video started pointing at the ground for a few seconds, before it slowly turned upward towards side stage. It zoomed closer and closer to the person standing in the wings, with her camera flashing towards Archie and Betty who were singing their duet. And that person was you, again. You felt your heart pick up several paces faster and your mouth fall slightly ajar, as you watched the camera continue to focus on you. Even as you moved out of the wings and onto the main stage, the video continued to follow your every move, never once changing focus.
Kevin paused the video, looked at you briefly and then scrunched his forehead at Jughead, who was still looking towards the ground.
“Uh… Jughead…” Kevin stammered, “What’s going on?”
Jughead raised his head, and you saw a pain in his eyes, as he looked earnestly at Kevin to drop the subject. Kevin took a few moments to register the hint, and he walked over to Jughead and placed the camera beside him once again.
“I’m just going to head off,” Kev said awkwardly, before she shuffled quickly out of the auditorium.
You stood in silence, looking at Jughead for answers. He looked towards you and prepared himself to say something, but nothing came out.
You had a million thoughts running through your brain in those moments of silence. Why would he film you? Did he think you were a suspect in the Black Hood case? Was he trying to catch you in a moment of embarrassment? But you still had no clue whatsoever.
“Y/N,” Jughead finally said, interrupting your thoughts, “You were never meant to see them.”
You furrowed your brow, and exclaimed, “Well, why would you film me in the first place? Is this apart of some crazy scheme to humiliate me or something?” You felt a sense of anger in your tone.
“No, god no!” Jughead responded, shaking his head as he hopped off the stage and took a step towards you, “It’s just that…” He trailed off, stuck in his words.
“That what, Jug?” you asked softly.
“You fascinate me, Y/N. You light up any room you walk into, and I just wanted to see you over and over, even when we weren’t together,” he said, and then quickly spat out, “But not like in a creepy way! Sorry if it came out really creepy and stalkerish, because it’s not like that at all.”
You let out a small laugh, and you began to feel your eyes prick with happy tears. “No! It didn’t sound like that at all.”
Taking a step closer to Jughead, you began to feel your heart in your throat, begging to be released. You took a deep breath, before beginning to talk.
“Jug, I haven’t been able to tell you this, because I’ve felt so certain that it would end in rejection. But, you are just always on my mind, and I feel so warm and safe with you, and I just couldn’t imagine my life without you and I…”
Your sentence was interrupted by the feeling of a pair of lips pressing against your own. Jughead slowly pulled his lips away from yours, but still kept his head close.
“You are so beautiful, Y/N,” he whispered, and you couldn’t help but beam from ear to ear, “And for the record, all those things you said about me, I feel the same for you.”
You didn’t hesitate to return the kiss that he had given you a few moments earlier. It lasted many moments longer than before, and you could feel Jughead begin to smile during the kiss. You didn’t want this moment to end. It was everything you could have asked for, and more.
Finally, you began to lift your lips from his, and you stood up straight again, turning your gaze to the camera that still laid on the stage.
“You know,” you began, “We’re going to have to spend a lot more time actually filming the musical, otherwise at the end of all of this, Kevin will be in complete outrage.”
He gave a laugh, and nodded. “Yeah, I kind of dropped the ball on that one there. But since I won’t be seeing you through the lens of the camera as much anymore, maybe we could debrief after each rehearsal, you know, for the sake of the musical.”
You gave a small laugh at Jughead, whose demeanour seem lighter than usual now, and nodded along, “Mhmm, sure. I guess if it’s for the sake of the musical, then we must.”
Jughead walked over to the stage, grabbed his camera and walked to where his bag was laying, before slinging it over his shoulder. He then reached out his hand towards you, with a gleam of joy in his eyes. You gladly grabbed onto it, and slowly made your way out of the auditorium.
You didn’t really know where you were going to end up, but you figured it was likely it would be a booth at Pop’s.You both had a lot to discuss… oh, about the musical of course…
