Disclaimer: I own nothing, really nothing.
Summary: Jughead didn't really notice girls, but he noticed her.
A/N: This is kind of my take on the whole Jughead and Betty, read at your own risk. And my take that he might be demisexual/romantic which are both on the acearo spectrum. Because as a person who identifies on the asexuality/aromance spectrum I do feel it is important to have visibility in media but I do still feel like that doesn't complete mean a person will never fall in love. Because sure in the comics he was completely repulsed by the idea of a woman it seems, but this isn't the comic book universe and Jughead is some James Dean-esque sex symbol so there are my two cents and we are off.
Tear in my Heart
Jughead Jones the third didn't notice girls, okay he noticed them but not in a way other teenage boys did. Most guys noticed the bounce of their tits, the curve of their ass, their legs. They had what Jughead at times considered the most animalistic instincts, he often found it repulsive how these boys reacted; sure, he noticed, these things seemed aesthetically pleasing enough to the eye, he could see the appeal but he never felt it. He didn't pop random boners in class, he didn't feel the need to get his rocks off at any given moment.
He preferred to notice things such as their intellect, opinions on things from music to current events, their sense of humor. The girls of Riverdale, most left very little to be desired in that department, it was very rare that he met a girl who didn't make his brain want to dry heave. That is until he started hanging around the literal girl next door, Betty Cooper again. Sure, they had been best friends in their youth, but adolescence seemed to drive them apart; she was a perfect golden girl and he was a brooding antisocial teenager; an odd pairing brought together by murder of all things.
Jughead had missed Betty over the years, though his aloof persona would never make him admit that. It had always been Betty, Archie, and Jughead. They were his best friends, but Betty always seemed to understand certain aspects of his life that others didn't, parents that didn't quite manage to live up to their standards, the loss of a sibling in one way or another, how society perceived them. For Betty Cooper was just as dark, just as misunderstood, just as lost as him. She just hid it better, she had to, that was until she was around Jughead and she could be herself; not that perfect girl she always felt she needed to be for Archie. To him the real Betty Cooper was more intriguing, more endearing.
Jughead Jones rarely felt anything, the feeling fluttered in his stomach and flew up into his chest. Was he sick? He didn't know. He considered himself to be somewhat of a wordsmith but Betty Cooper left him speechless at times. He felt the overwhelming need to protect this girl, he usually considered himself "conscientious objector" to most things in life; to most people, but not her. The sight of some burly orderly trying to grab her set something off inside of him, he felt rage, he felt sick. What the fuck is going on?
Jughead ended up in her room that evening, using a ladder that he had borrowed from the Andrews' garage. He knocked on the window and he caught of glance of that smile, how he loved that smile. He found the words, "Hey Juliet," falling from his lips. What? He had to save himself, a 'Yellow Wallpaper' reference was sure to do the trick. Yes, she didn't suspect anything, she was too distraught for that; not that he blamed her. Alice Cooper had managed to take a shit on her daughter's life once again, he had the girl believing she was crazy. Jughead found himself reassuring the girl, she wasn't her mother just he wasn't his father. He wished had gotten the same pep talk sometimes, in a way he was giving it to the both of them. Betty Cooper was and would never be Alice Cooper and he would never be his father, an alcoholic South Side Snake.
The next thing he knows, he finds himself choking on the simplest of words; she looks just as confused as he feels on the inside. He feels a pull towards her, maybe it's the intimacy of the moment. His words of encouragement make her look at him he isn't that familiar with, maybe it's the scent of vanilla in her room, or something inside of him just broke because the next thing he knows is he is taking her face in his hands and her lips are against hers. Jughead feels something unfamiliar; he feels an explosion on the inside, he feels warm and happy. He never feels that.
When they pull away she is smiling but soon things go back to normal; she is going on about a car in the woods. He wants to be mad at her for ruining their moment, but he can't help but smile. It's so…Betty that he can't be angry, that's who is he is falling in love with. How scary that is, but now he thinks he understands, he feels normal for the first time ever.
"To be continued…"
A/N: It's just a little drabble.