So, hello everyone! It's me, back again. This time it's with the start of a full-length story and not a one-shot (yay). So this story is Bughead (obviously) and Jughead is a single dad in this, so I feel like it's pretty unique so far. So other important info to know is that this is definitely an AU and there are a few OCs (they're not really going to end up being like super main characters, though, because I don't read fanfics for the OCs). So Jughead, Betty, Archie, Veronica are all like 22. Toni is a year older than them. Jughead has 2 kids: a 4 year-old daughter named Hannah Jones and a 2 year-old son named Owen Jones. As for who their mother is, I feel like what you guys need to know right now is explained in the chapter, so... I hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

1

"For the millionth time, no." Why did Veronica Lodge have to be so persistent? Jughead was getting sick of it very fast.

"Please?" she whined. "She would be so perfect for you, Jughead. She's-"

"An investigative journalist, I know," Jughead interrupted. "And she likes classic films and she'd get my humor. You've told me this a thousand times." Since last week, Veronica had told Jughead about her friend so many times that Jughead had her main reasons memorized.

"Just one date," Veronica pleaded.

"No," Jughead sighed again. He put his head down and pinched the bridge of his nose. If Veronica wasn't his friend's fiance, he would have a lot less patience with her unrelenting attempts to set him up.

"Please?" Veronica begged again. "Please, please, please, please, please?"

"Veronica," Jughead sighed. "I'm sure that your friend is amazing. But dating isn't really one of my top priorities. I have more important things to worry about."

"I know," Veronica sighed. "You're busy being father of the year." It seemed like Veronica was finally giving up. "But it's just one date," Nope. Jughead should've known better than to assume that Veronica would give up. "Or what about just meeting her for coffee or something?"

"Veronica," Jughead pleaded with her to just let it go.

"I just want you to be as happy as Archiekins and I are," Veronica said.

"I am happy," Jughead responded, although maybe it wasn't 100% true.

"I'm not giving up until you give in," Veronica insisted.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Veronica Lodge," Jughead chuckled as he started to make his way to his car. "Have a good night," he told her.

"Oh, I will," she said. "As soon as Archiekins gets off." Jughead chuckled again at Veronica's response before getting inside his car and driving away.

"And then Sierra and me played princesses. And we rided our unicorns to our castle," Jughead listened as his 4 year-old daughter told him all about her day between bites of spaghetti-O's. This wasn't how Jughead had imagined his 22 year-old self when he was younger. Well, the spaghetti-O's part was actually pretty accurate. But everything else was not at all what he had imagined.

It wasn't his dream situation. After all, who dreamed of being a single dad of two kids while his wife- that word felt weird- was somewhere. He didn't know where she was. He just knew that the answer would never be Riverdale again. But, despite that, he felt like he had been a pretty decent dad so far. He had wanted to be a better parent than his parents were and he felt like he had done that, at least.

Later that night, after putting Hannah and Owen to sleep, Jughead layed down in his own bed. Alone. He had gotten used to the emptiness. He had gotten used to putting his kids to bed by himself. He had gotten used to the way that things were now. The first few months without her, he had been a mess. He had been in denial. He had been depressed. He had almost turned into his dad. His life had already fallen apart 3 years before that and he had rebuilt it. And then it was falling apart again. Apparently, that was what he got for trying to be the good guy.

But now, about a year and half later, he was complacent. He had rebuilt his life again. He was now Jughead, single father. And he was okay with it.

It wasn't like he didn't miss having someone next to him, to love and to share the moments and responsibilities of everyday life (although that wasn't exactly what his relationship with his wife had been like). There was a part of him that wanted to say "yes" to Veronica's offer to set him up with her friend. Betty Cooper sounded like someone that he might actually like. And he told Veronica that he didn't want to because he didn't want to add something else to his life on top of his job and his kids.

And that was both a lie and the truth. He did have a lot in his life. But he also wasn't ready for another change. Over the past 4 and a half years, his life had changed so much and now, it had finally become consistent. And why send a ripple across perfectly calm waters that don't need it?

After satisfying his own internal musings, he fell asleep, ready for the next day in what was the monotonous consistency of his life.

"Auntie Toni," Hannah squealed as Jughead opened the door of his trailer for his wife's older sister.

"It's my Princess Hannah!" the 23 year-old excitedly greeted as she picked up her 4 year-old niece.

"Aun-nie!" Owen jumped up and down, clapping his hands excitedly.

"I was wondering where my Prince Owen was," Toni told the 2 year-old, picking him up after setting Hannah down.

"Auntie Toni," Hannah said, grabbing her aunt's hand, "come see my new tiara!"

"Okay," Toni agreed, "let's go see your new tiara."

Jughead smiled as he stirred the pasta on the stove. Their weekly Sunday dinners with Toni made him happy. They had been a thing since her younger sister had left him and he had been so relieved that Toni didn't blame him for ruining her sister's life like he did.

He must have been incredibly lost in his thoughts because the next thing he knew, the pasta was boiling over. He quickly drained it and mixed it with the cheese sauce before setting the table and leaving the small kitchen.

He smiled at the sight that he saw his daughter's room before he knocked on the door frame. All three of them looked up from the plastic ponies they were playing with. "Dinner's ready," he announced to his expectant faces.

"Great," Toni smiled as she got up from the ground. "I'm starving."

"So what culinary creation have you made for us tonight?" Toni asked as they walked the few steps to the kitchen.

"Mac'n'cheese, of course," Jughead responded as they sat around the table.

"Of course," Toni laughed. "Your signature dish."

"I'm hurt, Toni," Jughead said, holding his hand to his chest in mock pain. "My signature dish is dinosaur chicken nuggets."

"Oh, of course," Toni laughed, "how silly of me to forget."

The rest of the dinner was fun. Jughead always enjoyed how excited Hannah and Owen were to see their Auntie Toni every week. As always, Hannah talked non-stop, making sure to tell her Auntie Toni all about her week, repeated the stories that Jughead had heard over the past week.

After dinner was over and Toni played with Hannah and Owen some more, it was bedtime for them. It always took forever to get them to fall asleep when Toni was over, which was the only part he didn't like about their weekly dinners.

After Hannah and Owen finally fell asleep, Jughead and Toni sat on the couch talking. Toni always said that it would be more fun if they added sipping beers to their late night conversations, but Jughead had been adamant about not having even a drop of alcohol ever since he had dedicated himself to being a better father than his own was. Toni had reassured him that he was never going to turn into his father, but she hadn't ever pushed the issue further.

"I went out with Cheryl again," Toni said. Even in the dark light, Jughead could see the smile on her face.

"Oh. How is Cheryl?" Jughead asked. He knew that Toni had first started seeing her a month or two ago and, if her previous relationships were any indication, it would last for no more than a month or two more.

"She's good," Toni said. "She's still playing hard to get. Is Veronica still trying to set you up with her journalist friend?"

"Investigative journalist," Jughead corrected. "And yes. She's insisted that she won't give up until I give in."

"Well maybe you should," Toni suggested.

"Maybe I should what?" Jughead asked, caught off guard by Toni's response.

"Maybe you should give in. Let her set you up." Jughead was looking at Toni in shock. Of all the people who could tell him to move on, she shouldn't have been one of them. "She does seem like your type, Jug,"

"I don't have a type," he spat.

"Okay," Toni said, taken aback by his tone. "Well it just seems like you'd like her is all."

"I think that I'd know whether or not I'd like her," Jughead replied rudely.

"And you think you wouldn't?" Toni questioned, not being stopped by his tone again.

"I'm not dating right now," Jughead said with an air of finality. It was enough to convince Toni to drop the subject.

"You should let Veronica set you up," Toni told Jughead a week later.

"Let's not talk about this," Jughead said. He was tired of having this conversation.

"Why not?" Toni asked. She wasn't letting this go tonight.

"Didn't we just tuck the two reasons why into bed?" Jughead said, hoping that that would be the end of it.

"It's more than that, though," Toni said. He hated how well she knew him.

"Why does it matter?" Jughead asked defensively.

"Because you deserve to be happy," Toni said. "Whether or not you believe that, it's true."

"I am happy," he argued back. "I have two amazing kids."

"You deserve to be happy in every way," Toni said and he knew what she meant.

"I'm married," Jughead defended.

"Does it feel like you're married, Jug? Do you think she acts like you're married?" Toni asked.

"Don't bring her into this," Jughead said.

"At some point, you have to stop pretending like she's innocent," Toni sighed.

"I'm not pretending anything!" Jughead almost yelled.

"I'll see you next week," Toni said, getting up from the couch before leaving the trailer.

"I know that you're tired of hearing this, but give her a chance," Toni told Jughead. He immediately knew who she was talking about.

"Nothing's changed," Jughead said. "I shouldn't."

"Sometimes you have to just take a chance," Toni said, her tone had a hint of dreaminess to it.

"I've taken a million chances," Jughead argued.

"I don't mean the kind where you bet our properties in the Southside on whether or not you win a street race," Toni argued back.

"And what would you know about taking a chance like that? Cheryl may be a new girl, but it's the exact same routine and you're just going to run away as soon as it gets real again."

"Cheryl's different," Toni denied with venom in her voice. "And it's certainly not any of your business, but things did get real. And I didn't run away. So maybe I do know a thing or two about taking a chance!" Toni stormed out of his trailer.

Jug: I'm sorry for being a dick

Jug: Like, really sorry

Toni: Good. You should be

Jug: So am I forgiven?

Toni: What happened Sunday night?

Jug: You were right

Jug: I was scared to take a chance

Toni: Why?

Jug: Do we really have to talk about this?

Toni: Yes. For the sake of both our sanities

Jug: ...I don't want everything to fall apart again

Toni: No matter what happens, I promise that it can't be as bad as when she left

Jug: She had a right to leave

Toni: Just take a chance on this new girl, Jug

"So are you still dying to set me up with your friend?" Jughead asked Veronica.

"Yes!" Veronica said, ready to try to convince Jughead for the thousandth time. "I swear you're gonna love her, Jughe-"

"I'm in," he cut her off, surprising her.

"Really?" Veronica asked. Her eyes were ten times wider and brighter than they had been before. "If you're messing with me, you're going to regret it beyond what you ever thought was possible."

"I'm not messing with you," Jughead assured. "I really mean it."

Veronica let out an ear-splitting squeal before taking out her phone and quickly tapping on a contact.

"Betty? What are you doing Saturday night?" Veronica spoke into the phone. "Good. Keep it clear. I'm setting you up with one of the guys Archie works with."

Thanks for reading, guys! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! So Jughead's wife (who's as much his wife as Gladys was FP's wife, really) is an OC, obviously (I don't know if like Toni had a younger sister in the comics or anything - I've never read them, just a huge fan of the show). And we'll be meeting Betty in the next chapter, so yay! Also, I feel like Jughead is the kind of dad that loves the excuse to just eat kid food all the time lol, so that's fun!

I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! For now, I'm just doing weekly updates (super busy with work), so if you guys enjoyed this chapter, make sure to check back in next Sunday for a new one! As always, I love reviews! And I hope that you guys will tag along for this story with me! Thank you all for reading an have a wonderful Sunday!