The rain hammered down, pummeling the cracked grayed pavements of Riverdale. The droplets poured from the bruise like clouds overhead, the heavenly tears ricocheted back up to the purpling oblivion. The corridors of Riverdale High were as dark as miserable as the weather which shrouded the school. The windows provided little light, merely bathing the classrooms in a dull grey, the reflection of water sliding down glass projected on the walls. It ironic how the stormy facade of the sky was reflecting the atmosphere of the students of Riverdale. It had been exactly 10 days, 19 hours, 28 minutes and 16 seconds since Archie Andrews had rejected Betty Cooper. 17 seconds. 18 seconds. 19 seconds.
Elizabeth Cooper, Archibald Andrews, Kevin Keller, Veronica Lodge and Forsythe Pendleton 'Jughead' Jones III were in double biology. Renowned in Riverdale High as a morose and dull subject, it was the dry period which probably added to Betty's distant and out of character apparel. Unlike most days, Betty's lightly curled blond hair wasn't up in her usual ponytail, instead it hung in loose waves about her shoulders, a curtain of her fair hair obscuring her face from the rest of the class. Jughead's eyes flitted over to her every few minutes, worry and regret tightening a insurmountable knot in the pit of his stomach as he watched one of his best friends stare listlessly out of the window.
"Okay, Mr Jones, could you please just repeat the instructions I just gave." Said Mr Cole, the hard faced biology teacher who was widely acknowledged throughout the classes taught by him that he was the definition of an unfair teacher.
"Er... Dissection...?" Dissection was Mr Cole's favored method of teaching... mostly because it meant he had to do very little. Jughead thought it also had something to do with the fact that Mr Cole was a psychotic, sadist, sociopath who reveled in the pain of others. The teacher curled his lip in a scathing manner.
"No, Forsythe." He said, emphasizing the name Jughead hated so much. Jughead resisted to say something as equally scathing back. Mr Cole gave a subtle glance from Jughead to Betty and turned back to the board. "We are studying the anatomy of a lamb's heart today." Jughead rolled his eyes in anger; that's basically what he said! "Oh and Mr Jones," he continued in a sly tone, "Be sure not to be distracted by petty matters in my class again." And the Cole gave another barely existent glance from Betty to Jughead. 'Mr Jones' flushed; Cole knew about his... well he knew it was Betty that was distracting him and the bio teacher was goading him. Well Jughead wasn't about to give him the satisfaction.
Jughead smoothed his expression and said in a measured voice, "Yes... sir." He made sure to say the last word with resentful sarcasm edging his tone, unwilling to show respect.
"Well now that all of you know the work I have set you, chose your partners, go to a station and begin." Jughead was about to walk over to Archie, whom he would normally work with, when Betty began to walk towards. He froze unsure of what to do. Betty hooked her hair behind her ear and gave- for the first time in over a week- a small smile. It was a wonderful sight. The warmth she seemed to exude thawed Jughead's uncertainty. "Hi..?" He said tentatively.
Her smile grew a little, "Hey." her fingers began to fiddle with each other as they did when Betty was nervous. "Lab partners?" She asked.
Betty wasn't the only one smiling... a grin broke across Jughead's face. "Yeah, yeah sure." And suddenly Jughead didn't care about the snide look jealousy Archie was throwing at him. All he cared about was that Betty Cooper has chosen him, the angsty, sardonically- humorous aspiring author from the wrong side of the tracks, not the cringily cliched red headed football heart throb. But then a sour thought clouded his mind; was he just Betty's back-up plan? Was he going to be perpetually second best to Archie Andrews?
As the claimed the bio station at the back of the class, Jughead began fiddling with the scalpels, deliberately avoiding Betty's eyes. "Betts..." He began slowly.
"Mmm?" she responded absent mindlessly.
"Am I... Did you chose to work with me to annoy Archie or something? I mean I know I'm your friend and all but it's always been Arch." Jughead continued in a rush.
Genuine confusion spread over Betty's face, "What, no! I'm not trying to make Archie jealous, I just don't wanna deal with the whole load of crap which comes with him." She replied in a voice which suggested she had more to say. She took his hands adn moved them from the scalpels. "You never could keep your hands still." She smiled in a quiet way. The warmth of her palms seemed to send an electric thrill down his spine. Betty turned away to consult the textbook, "Did you ever maybe consider that just possibly I just want to hang out with you, Juggie?" For a second, their eyes locked onto each other. Time seemed to stand still in the few seconds they held each other's gaze. The breath caught in Betty's throat and Jughead swallowed hard, acutely aware of how vibrantly blue her eyes were, how her hair was just perfectly curly yet smooth. And in turn she appreciated the intensity of his dark eyes, knowing of how his lips were just the right size to...
"Miss Cooper, Mr Jones, I know both of you have not been focused throughout my lesson: come to the front, you can work here next to Miss Lodge and Mr Andrews." The eye contact was broken as Cole shouted from across the bio classroom. The tension turned the atmosphere icy, unbearably congested with unspoken grudges as Jug and Betty walked to the desk Mr Cole had indicated, Betty's back skimming Jughead's shoulder. They sat down, Jughead closest to Archie's desk which he shared with Veronica (no surprise) and Betty next to Kevin and Moose's desk. Betty averted her eyes from Ronnie and Archie's questioning looks as Jughead stared resolutely at the bloody lamb's heart.
'What the Hell are you doing, Jug?!' the note from Archie to Jughead read.
Jug scribbled back in his scrawling hand writing, 'What are you talking about?'
Archie: I'm talking about how you are trying to muscle in on Betty when she's always been mine.
Jug: Dude what r u talking about? She's not some kind of possession which is there to be won. She's free to make her own choices.
Archie: You seriously thinks she likes you?
Jughead: what the Hell are you implying?
Archie: C'mon Juggie! Your dads an alcoholic druggie and your mom left you plus ur living in the closet under the stairs. Do you really think Betty will want to be with you when she finds out who you actually are? You do not deserve Betty Cooper.
"Jughead?" Betty said, unsure why Jughead was shaking with anger as he stared down at a scrap of paper in his lap. "What's wrong?" She placed a coaxing hand on his hands. Jughead just stared at the note, trembling with anger, blinking back the raw tears of anger at Archie's cruel words.
"Yeah, Jug, what's wrong?" Said Archie smugly.
Ronnie was exchanging confused with Kevin and Betty. "Archie!" she said pointedly. Archie said nothing but continued to smirk at Jughead.
"Why don't you tell Betty the truth? Huh, Juggie? Why don't you tell her about your dad and where you're really living?" Archie said vindictively.
"What are you...?" Betty asked half confused, half annoyed.
With that, Jughead sprang up from his chair. His hands parted with Betty's and suddenly he had the overwhelming urge to hold her, just to feel the warmth, the passion once more... But then he remembered Archie's harsh words. The note lay on the lab table, the words, "You do not deserve Betty Cooper." standing out with fiendish definition. The terrible thing was, Jughead almost believed them. Maybe, just maybe, Archie's words reigned true...
The red plastic seated bio char clattered to the ground with a reverberating clang and heaving silence descended upon the class. They whole of the biology class were staring in shock and awe at Jughead, Archie and Betty (all of whom were standing), Archie facing Betty and Jughead.
"You're a dick." Jughead said, fists clenched.
He turned to leave when, "Yeah, that's about right, run away from your issues. Like father like son." Archie's voice was goading, unlike himself, the words coming from his lips were what Jughead would've expected from Chuck or Cheryl. Bullies. Not Archie Andrews. But Jughead had enough; that was it. Something inside Jughead snapped. Bring his father into the messy crap of the 'Archie vs Jughead' argument and that was enough to make Jughead feel more than hatred towards his supposed best friend.
"Jughead, don't-" Betty began, in a pleading tone, sensing what was about to happen.
"What did you just say?" Said Jughead, wheeling around to face Archie, his jaw clenched. "What the Hell did you just say?!"
"What, you mean the bit about your dad being a useless alcoholic who doesn't give two shits about his-" Jughead saw red. There was a sickening thud as his gripped fist collided with Archie's face. And bedlam exploded across the lab! Cole was screaming detentions like bloody murder, Cheryl was taking pictures on her phone like there was no tomorrow and shouting, "#ArchHeadIsOver,", Chuck and Reggie were egging the fight on, Betty threw herself at Archie in an attempt to wrench him off Jughead, Veronica, Kevin and the rest of the class were all shouting incoherently and Archie was attempting to throw Betty off whilst trying punch Jughead again and again.
"That's enough!" Moose pulled Betty off Archie and yanked him off of Jughead. Betty scrambled to her feet watching the two helplessly as Jughead got to his feet. Just as quickly as the noise of the class began, silence settled once more. The two stood in the lab facing each other, Archie with a nosebleed, Jughead with a cut on his cheek bone, a bruising eye and bleeding knuckles.
"You're not welcome to stay in my house anymore." That was all Archie had to say, after everything, that was all he could muster.
Jughead turned away, walking for the door. As he burst into the corridor, he began to run, the sound of his feet pounding into the hallway floors echoing eerily. He wanted to run and just keep running, to go and never look back.
"Jughead!" The voice, not the word, made him stop. Betty. His breath was jerky and forced as he wiped the single tear from his cheek. There was the sound of more footsteps as she ran toward him. He closed his eyes, attempting to steady his breath. He would not, he could not be weak. He had to strong for Betty if not for himself. She reached him, but his back was turned away from her. "Jug..." she whispered as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Archie was... I don't even have words. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault..." Jughead said nothing, his eyes were still closed, head still bowed. "Juggie, look at me." Her voice was soft but not patronizing, coaxing but not demanding.
"I- I don't want you to see me like this." He said in a voice that was barely a whisper, a voice so quiet only someone as close to him as Betty was could hear him.
"I'm your friend Jug, I'm here for you, not to judge or condone you. Please." Her voice became as quiet as his, the tears stinging her eyes, a lump rising in her throat. Slowly, slowly, he turned to face her. His eye was dark, his knuckle was swollen and bloody from Archie.
"Oh my God." Her shock was once more barely audible. Her hands moved from his shoulder to his chest and came to rest on his cheeks. "This is all my fault..." Her tears spilled. They fell down her cheeks like drops of rain, crystalline, wholesome, full of beauty and terrible sadness, as damaged and as perfect as silvery strands of spider web.
Jughead put his hands over hers, memorizing the shape, the creases of her palms, the softness of her pale skin. "This isn't you fault, this is Archie being bitter because he knows I love you." The words came out before he had a chance to think. He just said he loves Betty. Ah.
Surprise momentarily flitted across Betty's face. "You love me?" She wasn't disgusted or resentful. Then it came to him, the only logical thing to do. He kissed her. And you know what? Betty Cooper kissed Jughead Jones right back. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer as in turn, her arms found their way around his neck. The raw passion of their embrace was tangible. A solid wall of frenzied infatuation.
Passion. Infatuation. Intense attraction. Connection. Those are the words which are synonymous to the feeling. Those words are what some might've described the Cooper, Jones embrace as. But in that moment... The two would've called it love.
Finally after what seemed like a welcomed eternity, they pulled apart, their faces only an inch away from each other. Jughead grinned, a one-lip-hooked-up-at-the-corner kind of grin. Jughead's grin. "I've been waiting to do that." His eyes roamed over her face, absorbing every tiny detail. So beautiful. "I kissed you."
She gave a small laugh, nervous and sincere. Her hand stroked his cheeks once more. "And I kissed you right back." He wiped the remnants of tears from her face, his thumb skimming her cheeks.
"I believe that is what is commonly known as A Moment."
Okay so that was my first chapter of Bughead. I know it said one shots on the description but I am going to do a part two of this where some of the answers are given to Betty about Jughead's life (dad included). This is my first Bughead Fanfiction. Hope you enjoyed it, please comment and like! :)
PS. I know Archie was really out of character but I promise it was just for this one shot.