Disclaimer: I do not own Riverdale or anything associated with the Archie Comics

Note: Thanks for reading and here's to hoping for more scenes between these two the rest of the season! *crosses fingers for a happy Bughead*

Juliet's Story

The line went dead and Betty hung up on the Black Hood. For the first time in weeks she finally felt like she had the upper hand against the psycho terrorizing Riverdale. She laid on her bed smiling softly before sitting straight up. Jughead. Betty scrambled around the room throwing a few things in the bag and her backpack. She bounded down the stairs.

"Mom? MOM—where are you?" Alice stuck her head out of the kitchen.

"What is it, Betty?"

"I'm headed to Veronica's to study with her and Kevin. I'll probably stay the night." Betty bit down on her lip and pretended to shuffle some things around in her backpack so she didn't have to look straight in her face.

"Oh, I don't think so, last time you went out with those hopped up teen idols, they had druggie death sticks coming out of their ears."

"Mom—after what happened to Cheryl and with you guys, I think our party days are behind us. Besides, you can trust me, remember?"

"Oh I trust you, it's those two I don't trust—but alright fine, just call me if you want me to come get you."

"Ok bye Mom, love you!" Betty kissed her mom on the cheek and headed for the door. She looked behind her and then instead of heading for the Lodges, headed the opposite way into the worse part of town.

Jughead placed his laptop to the side and stood up to answer the door. He swung it open and was startled to see his ex-girlfriend standing there holding her bookbag slung over one shoulder and a bag of food from Pop's in her hand.

He turned away from her. "If you think bringing me Pop's is going to make up for what happened, you can just give it to Hotdog."

"Wait, Jug, just let me explain. I promised you an explanation and I'm her to give you one." He turned to look at her. God, she was beautiful, but there was still an ache in his chest when he looked at her and he wasn't sure what she could say that would make up for it.

"Ok, let's hear it Cooper." He opened the door wider and let her in, shutting and locking it behind her. He watched her spread out the food on the table and then sit leaning forward and twisting her hands like she did when he was nervous.

"So, it all started the night we went to the town hall meeting. After all that happened, later that night, I got my first phone call from the Black Hood." Jughead wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he definitely wasn't expecting that.

"That psycho called you and you didn't tell me? Betty—"

"Just listen, Jug, this will probably be a lot easier if you just let me tell you." He listened with wide eyes as Betty began to explain. She made it to Veronica before he stood up. He paced away from her a little and then looked back to her.

"And you just did what he told you to? Betty, she's your best friend—"

"I didn't have a choice, Jughead! He was going to hurt her or kill her."

"You should have come to me, I could have—"

"There was nothing you could do Juggie, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

"But you told Archie."

"Archie was there, Jug! He wasn't suspicious because we could walk to school together. And the Black Hood still found out! I'm sorry, I promise I wanted to tell you." Jughead huffed and crossed his arms.

Betty blinked and turned her eyes downward. "And then after I did that to Veronica, he called again…and this time—this time he said your name."

It was quiet, and Betty was afraid to look up to see his reaction. She heard him uncross his arms and move towards her again. And then her chin was being tilted up and he was kissing her and she locked her arms around his neck as he pulled her up from her chair and into his arms. She felt the tears running down her face and he pulled back to put their foreheads together. He wiped the tears off her face with his thumbs.

"That's why you broke up with me? It wasn't because of the Serpents or because you didn't love me?" His voice cracked and she smiled through fresh tears.

"I told you, Juggie, I don't think I can stop loving you." He kissed her again, long and hard, like she was going to disappear. "I love you too, Betty Cooper. Don't do that again."

"I won't. I promise." Her eyes turned scared. "I'm still not sure I did the right thing by telling you, I may have stopped playing his games after catching the Sugarman, but he could still hurt you."

"That was you? You caught Mr. Phillips? How did you know?"

"It's a long story. Let's eat, Juggie."

Later, after the food was gone and Jughead was finishing up his article for the Red and Black, though he wasn't sure if he could keep it going anymore. He slammed his laptop closed and put it to the side before turning slightly to look at Betty reading her book. He had told her about kissing Toni and their conversation in the diner, but she didn't seem too fazed. She had given him a forgiving smile and told him that she understood he was hurting and that he better not ever kiss anyone else ever again, even if that person did like girls better. He put his arm over her shoulder and plucked the book from her hands.

"Hey, I was reading that—" Betty didn't get the chance to protest much as Jughead quickly kissed her and pulled her up.

"Not that I want you to leave, but it's really late Betts—I should probably drive you back now."

Betty smiled at him and threaded her arms around him, moving closer and whispering in his ear. "What if I told you I had the whole night" He pulled back abruptly and looked at her with wide eyes. She had a seductive little smirk on her face he thought would drive him crazy.

"Betty Cooper, you'll be the death of me. I missed you, Juliet." He pulled her closer and kissed her hard as he pushed her back into his bedroom and shut the door hard. That night there were no Serpents or crazy moms or serial killers, just Romeo and Juliet reunited and happy to be together again.