Author's Note: Hi guys! Betty and Jughead are back together, and so my inspiration to write has returned. Here's a new story for you. You'll have to be patient with me; this story is going to take a lot more research than my last one did, and I'm in my hardest semester of nursing school at the moment which is really time consuming. This idea randomly occurred to me, and I really like it (it's right up my alley with whump and angst), and I really want to do it justice, so patience on the part of the readers is key. I really hope you enjoy it.
As for time setting, I would like to say it's current, but I'm not including many of the current storylines like Chic or the Lodge business. It is post-Bughead reunion though.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
"Another week at Riverdale High complete," Jughead sighed, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders as they began their trek to the Cooper residence. The couple had only been back together for a few days, but it felt as though they had missed no time together at all. The familiarity was comforting.
Betty leaned into his side as they walked down the uneven sidewalk. "Thank goodness. I've been so exhausted these past few weeks."
"Not sleeping well?" Jughead inquired, hoping his absence wasn't at the root of the matter.
"I've been sleeping regularly," Betty replied, shrugging. "I think there's just been a lot going on."
"It's Riverdale; there's always a lot going on," the beanie-clad teen said wryly.
Betty snorted. "You aren't wrong about that."
The twosome walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way to the Cooper household. Jughead found himself smiling, appreciating the beautiful, unusually warm winter day. Thinking back, he couldn't remember the last time he had smiled. Granted, there hadn't been that much to celebrate recently. He glanced down at Betty, who also wore an expression of contentment. To his dismay, however, he did notice that his girlfriend's face appeared to be lacking color, and there were blue-tinted circles under her gorgeous green eyes. Jughead mentally kicked himself; she had obviously been taking their breakup harder than she let on. He resolved then and there to make sure her weekend was both restful and relaxing.
The couple walked up the front stairs to the house to find Alice and Hal dragging luggage onto the porch. There were wrapped gifts next to their suitcases.
"Umm, hi?" Betty said, looking from one parent to another. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Oh good, Betty, you're home," Alice said quickly. She stood up from straightening the bow on one of the wrapped packages. "Your father and I are going to the farm where Polly lives to meet the twins."
Betty cocked her head and surveyed her parents shrewdly. Jughead could see the gears churning in her blonde head. "Does she know you're coming?"
"Of course not," Alice responded flippantly, picking up two of the presents. "But we have decided that we are going to see her, whether or not she or her cult want us to. Those are our grandchildren, and we will not be kept from them any longer."
Hal looked at Betty and gave her a resigned shrug. It was clear that he was not in charge of the situation.
"Don't worry, we left plenty of food to get you through the weekend," Alice continued, dragging her suitcase to the station wagon. Hal followed her with his own luggage, looking stoic. "I assume we won't have our cell phones once we are with the cult," she added with an eye roll. "But if you need anything, I told Mr. Andrews where we were going and he agreed to keep an eye out for you. We wanted to take you with us, but we thought it best to keep our numbers low until we find out whether or not this cult is even going to let us see Polly or the twins." Each time Alice said the word "cult" her face contorted into an expression equivalent to someone smelling spoiled milk.
Jughead watched Betty absorb all of the information Alice bestowed upon her. "Okay," she said, shrugging. "Good luck, I hope everything goes smoothly. Tell Polly I love her."
"Of course we will," Alice said, her blue eyes softening for a moment. However, they hardened again, turning their gaze on Jughead. "Jughead, I am happy to see you and our daughter worked your differences out. That being said, if you insist upon staying here this weekend, we prefer you to stay in the guest room. And if you refuse to do that, please have the good grace to use protection. We've hit our quota for grandchildren this year."
Jughead felt a rare blush creeping up his usually pallid cheeks but tried to keep his facial expression neutral. "Noted, Mrs. Cooper," he mumbled.
"Use good judgement, Betty," Alice said, getting into the car. "We don't know exactly when we'll be back, but we'll contact you when we can. We love you."
Hal gave the couple an awkward wave, obviously still recovering from Alice's comments to Jughead, and climbed into the passenger seat of the station wagon. They pulled out of the driveway and down the road, disappearing around the corner.
"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have normal parents," Betty murmured, watching the car as it disappeared from sight.
"Don't we all?" Jughead responded. He wrapped his arm around Betty's shoulders again and steered her into the house. His weekend plans of waiting on Betty hand and foot had just become a lot easier without the meddlesome Cooper parents in the picture. "But to be honest, I'm pretty certain there's no such thing."
Once inside, Jughead dropped his backpack on the floor next to the door and studied Betty, who had momentarily shut her eyes. She breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly.
"Come on, let's get you to bed," Jughead murmured, pulling Betty into a hug. She seemed frailer than usual, and once again he felt the sinking feeling of guilt settle into his gut.
Betty's eyes snapped open and gave Jughead a confused look. "It's only three-thirty. I can't go to bed now."
"Betty, you look dead on your feet," Jughead replied, gazing down at his girlfriend. "You're not going to lift a finger this weekend. Anything you need, I'm your guy. I feel like it's my fault you're run down right now, and I'm going to make it up to you."
Betty glanced up at Jughead, her green eyes studying his blue ones closely. She licked her bottom lip and dug her teeth into it. "I'll only go to bed under one condition."
Jughead's mouth dried instantly. "What's that?" he asked hoarsely, already knowing exactly what Betty meant.
Betty grabbed the waistband of his jeans and pulled him close, maintaining a burning eye contact. "You come with me."
0o0o0o0
Some time later, Betty laid naked next to Jughead, fast asleep. Jughead studied her peaceful, resting face with scrutiny, gently tracing his fingers over her smooth skin. He found himself in awe of her beauty, the setting sun casting shadows through the window and onto her serene face. The blue circles under her eyes remained ever-present, but somehow, seeing her sleep helped the pit in his stomach.
Deciding it was time to make the two of them dinner, he crawled out of bed, accidentally uncovering Betty in the process. He quickly grabbed the blanket to avoid waking up his sleeping beauty, but before he did, he caught a sight that stopped him in his tracks. There were bruises up and down Betty's ribs and back, and upon further inspection, around her hips and down her thighs as well.
"What the hell?" he murmured, tracing the lines with the tips of his fingers. The bruises varied in shape and size, and were different shades, ranging from dark purple to light green. Betty began to stir, and Jughead quickly covered her with the comforter, still not wanting to disturb her. This could wait until she woke up for dinner.
After putting his pants and shirt back on, Jughead walked sleepily down the stairs, still mulling over the marks on Betty's skin. He walked to the kitchen to see what food Alice had left for them, and upon inspection, he decided to make them breakfast for dinner. While mixing the pancake batter, there was a knock on the door.
Wondering who the visitor could be, Jughead opened the door to Archie Andrews standing on the doorstep.
"Oh, hey, Jug," Archie said, clearly surprised to see him. "My dad said Mr. and Mrs. Cooper were out of town this weekend so I came to make sure Betty wasn't lonely."
Jughead stepped back to let his friend in. "She's upstairs sleeping," he said, closing the door behind Archie. "I'm making pancakes and bacon for dinner, want to join?"
"I totally would, but I'm having dinner at the Lodge's tonight," Archie said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "I was going to see if Betty wanted to come with me, but it looks like you have dinner under control."
"I'm working on it," Jughead said, pouring batter onto the griddle.
"I've noticed you guys are hanging out a lot again," Archie began hesitantly, "is everything going well?"'
"I think so," Jughead said, turning to his best friend. "I hope so. I was an idiot for pushing her away. I've been an idiot for the last few months to be honest; I'm lucky she let me back in."
"She's head over heels for you, Jug," Archie said, smiling. "It'll be good to see her happy again." He frowned before saying, "I'm sure Betty told you that we kissed. And now that I know you're back together, I wanted to apologize to you. It didn't mean anything at all."
Jughead froze, his stomach dropping to his knees. "You and Betty kissed?" He found himself unable to move.
"Jug, I'm sorry, I thought Betty would have told you by now," Archie said quickly, walking forward. "It didn't mean anything. It was right when I was about to get buried alive by the Black Hood and emotions were running high. We haven't spoken about it since, and now I'm back with Veronica, and you and Betty are back together, and everything is normal again." He laid his hands on Jughead's shoulders. "Seriously, Jug, it didn't mean a thing. I just wanted to apologize to you. I know you guys were broken up at the time, but I still feel bad about it."
Though Jughead's mind was still reeling, he found himself able to shrug. "It's fine," he said, turning to the now-smoking pancake on the stovetop. He tossed it in the trash and began a new one. "It's not a big deal. Everything is fine now, and plus I hooked up with Toni while we were broken up too. I just wish Betty had told me herself."
"I'm sorry," Archie repeated. "I'm sure she's forgotten about it by now; that's how irrelevant it was."
"I'm sure," Jughead replied, still reeling. First the bruises, and now this. The past twenty minutes had been a revelation.
Thankfully, the conversation moved forward, and any uncomfortable feelings between the two friends evaporated quickly. Soon, Jughead had a large stack of pancakes and plate of bacon ready for dinner.
"You sure you can't stay?" Jughead asked Archie, gesturing to the large amount of food he had just prepared.
"I wish I could." Archie stared at the food longingly. "But I did promise Veronica I would eat with her family tonight."
"Fair enough." Jughead checked the time. "I need to get Betty up or she'll never sleep tonight."
"Yeah, what's with that?" Archie asked, his brows knitting together. "It's not like her to nap."
"I think she's just really rundown," Jughead said, putting their plates on the table. He didn't mention his level of concern to Archie. "The past month hasn't been easy on either of us."
Archie nodded in understanding. "I get it, man. When Ronnie and I were broken up I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat; it was awful."
At that moment, a sleepy Betty appeared from upstairs, clad in her light pink robe. She wiped her eyes and yawned. "Hey, Arch," she said, smiling at her friend.
"Good nap?" Archie asked, returning the smile.
"The best," Betty replied. She glanced at the steaming plates on the table and her eyes lit up. "Breakfast for dinner?" she asked, turning to Jughead eagerly.
"That's the plan," he replied, smiling at Betty's excitement. He watched the body language between his best friend and his girlfriend carefully; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Maybe, just maybe, the kiss had been as inconsequential as Archie insisted.
"Well, guys, I'm going to run," Archie said, backing towards the door. "Mr. Lodge doesn't take kindly to late guests."
The couple bid their friend goodbye and sat down at the table. Jughead studied Betty closely, not sure whether to ask her about the bruises or the kiss with Archie first. Looking at her still-pale face, however, he found he didn't have it in him to broach the Archie subject yet.
"Betts, when I was getting up to cook earlier, I noticed you have a lot of bruises all over. Did you fall or something?"
Betty finished chewing her bite of pancake and looked at Jughead quizzically. "No, I just assumed they were from having sex."
Jughead nearly choked on his bite of bacon. "I appreciate your confidence in me, Betty, but we've had sex exactly twice now. And I'm pretty certain neither time was either lengthy nor rough enough to leave any marks on you."
Betty shrugged, seeming unconcerned. "I don't know then. I've always bruised pretty easily. One of the perks of having the complexion of Casper."
"Okay," Jughead responded. He briefly wondered if Betty was telling the truth, considering her lie regarding Archie, but he forced himself to redirect his thoughts, citing them as paranoid.
After the two had finished their breakfast for dinner, they sat down and watched television for a couple hours, unwinding from their long week at school. Jughead sat with his legs stretched out in front of him over the length of the couch and Betty sat between them, leaning back into his chest. Every so often, Jughead would lean forward and smell the sweet, familiar scent of Betty's hair. He had always found the smell intoxicating, and now that they were finally back together, somehow it smelled even better.
An hour and a half into their television viewing, Betty began shifting uncomfortably between Jughead's legs.
"You okay, Betts?" Jughead murmured.
"I'm starting to not feel great," Betty admitted, wiping her forehead. "I think I might have a fever."
"Uh oh." Jughead sat up, wrapping an arm around Betty to feel her forehead. Sure enough, her forehead was warm to the touch and her skin had a sticky, clammy feel to it. "I hope you're not coming down with something. Let's get you to bed."
Together, the teens climbed the stairs to Betty's room. Betty seemed a little weak, so Jughead made sure to keep an arm around her waist to stabilize her.
"Do you want any medicine?" Jughead asked once Betty was settled in bed.
"Maybe some Tylenol," Betty responded quietly, shutting her eyes and leaning against her headboard. "I really hope this isn't the flu. It's been spreading around school like a wildfire."
"I'm sure you'll feel better after some sleep." Jughead stood up to retrieve the medication for Betty. He found it in the cabinet above her sink and returned with the bottle and a glass of water.
Betty swallowed two pills with a large sip of water. "Thank you," she said, smiling up at Jughead. "You're an excellent nurse."
Jughead leaned down and kissed Betty gently. "I'll be back as soon as I put away all the food and turn out the lights downstairs."
Fifteen minutes later, Jughead climbed over Betty and settled into his side of the bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked gently.
"A little better," Betty replied sleepily. "I think I'll be fine after some rest."
"Go to sleep then, Betts," Jughead murmured softly. He hesitated before adding, "I love you."
Though the room was dark, the moonlight shining through the window illuminated Betty's face just enough for Jughead to see her smile.
"I love you too, Jug."
And with that sweet affirmation, Jughead also drifted off.
0o0o0o0
"Jughead?"
Betty's panicked voice jolted the teen up from a deep sleep. "What's wrong?" he asked, already wide awake.
"I think something is wrong." Though urgent, the tone of Betty's voice was bone chillingly frail.
Jughead leapt out of bed and flipped on the light, and the sight that played out before him was like something out of a horror film. Betty was sitting up in bed, white as a ghost, holding her trembling hands out in front of her. They were covered in blood.
Crossing the room quickly, he stripped the comforter from the bed and the sight before him made him weak in the knees. The insides of Betty's bare thighs were covered in blood, as were the sheets below her backside. Jughead's stomach lurched uncomfortably; the sheer volume of blood on the bed, combined with the terrified expression on Betty's face, made it clear to him this wasn't a typical feminine occurrence.
Betty began to shake violently and tears spilled from her green eyes. "I don't know what to do," she whispered fearfully.
Jughead grabbed Betty's phone off of the side table and dialed 911. As it rang, he sat on the side of the bed and stroked Betty's hair comfortingly. "We're going to get you to the hospital, Betty. Don't worry; I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
Author's Note: So yeah, if you hadn't gathered this by now, this story is going to be heavy. That being said, I am so excited to tell it. I'm happy to hear any constructive criticism; let me know if you're interested in continuing to read this story.