"Get back here!" Hal Cooper's voice pierced the quiet night, unsettling Betty's stomach as she ran. Keeping her head down, she allowed her feet to pound against the pavement, carrying her further and further away from her drunk father and his abusive tendencies. The night was like any other night in the Cooper household – her father had been nursing an entire bottle of whisky while Betty worked on homework in her room. She had been itching to lock her door, so her father couldn't enter her room and start lashing out at her in his drunken haze, but rules were rules and she knew that if she even dreamt of locking her door, there would be even more hell to pay.
As her feet continued to propel her forward, Betty's mind was calm, an occurrence that happened only when she was running. Her dad hadn't always been the drunk he was today. He, at one point, was a kind and loving man. But, the world had turned a cold shoulder to him; had toughened him up. When her mom had finally had enough and left, Betty was the only one left behind to fix the broken mess that was her father. Despite her hardest efforts, however, she still didn't seem quite able to be the stitching he needed. Sighing, she inhaled through her nose as she ran, her father's cries buried far behind her now, a distant echoing in the night.
At long last, she stopped, glancing at her surroundings. She was surprised, (actually, not as surprised as she should be), that she was here of all places. The White Wyrm looked welcoming, no matter how many drunken men were leering at her. It wasn't that she couldn't handle drunken men; it was that she refused to fight back against Hal. These guys? They were a different story entirely. Pushing her way through the crowd, Betty eventually made it into the bar, letting the air engulf her in a warm cocoon.
"Lost, Princess?" An oily voice whispered into her ear and Betty bit back a growl as she came face-to-face with a tall man, grinning unpleasantly at her.
"Are you?" Betty hissed, eyes flashing dangerously. The man smirked, raking his eyes over her frame. She suppressed the urge to growl again, shoving her way past him. As she stalked her way towards the bar, she caught sight of a familiar bartender with pink hair. Smiling slightly, she sat down, tapping the bar.
"Your usua-god, Betty, what happened?" Toni asked, staring horrorstruck at her face. Betty shrugged.
"You know, got on the wrong end of someone's fist," she laughed, hoping the twinge she felt in her ribs didn't come across as a wince.
"Hal?" Toni supplied quietly, and Betty nodded once, firm and quick.
"Per usual," she muttered, before clearing her throat. "Vodka and sprite, please."
Toni busied herself with making the drink as Betty took in all the patrons at the bar. Normally, she wouldn't be caught dead in a bar like this, especially on this side of town, but ever since Toni Topaz had transferred to her school and became her friend, Betty found herself questioning how she lived her life. Toni was a part of the no nonsense gang, the Serpents. She was the right-hand woman to their fearless (or so Betty had heard from the petite woman), leader, Jughead Jones. Betty didn't know much of the man in question, just that he was a year older and was leader of the motorcycle gang fresh off his graduation.
"Do you need to stay somewhere tonight?" Toni asked, looking at Betty worriedly. She shook her head.
"No, T, he'll be passed out by the time I get back and hopefully too hungover to get out of bed tomorrow," she replied. Toni slid the drink she made towards Betty, and Betty took a sip, relishing in the way the cool liquid burned her throat. She had always sworn to herself she wasn't doomed to repeat her father's mistakes, which is why she never had more than one drink on the nights she showed up to the bar.
"I've got to go check on the others, but stay for a bit, yeah? I want to catch up," Toni said, and Betty nodded. She wasn't in any mood to head home just yet. Toni walked off, leaving Betty to her thoughts. Hal Cooper had once been a decent man; had once loved and supported his family in the way only a father was capable of. But, things happened. People changed. Hal changed. Alice and Polly Cooper leaving were a testament to that. Sure, there were the promises of coming back for her but Betty learned on the night that her mother drove away from a tear-stained thirteen-year-old, that promises were just empty words; they didn't amount to anything.
Sighing, she swirled around her drink, before taking another sip.
"Hi, Princess," came the same oily voice from before and Betty shot him a glacial glare.
"Not interested," she snapped.
"But you haven't even heard what I'm offering," the reply made her roll her eyes.
"Not. Interested." Betty said through gritted teeth. She went back to her drink but could see out of her peripheral how the man got angry, getting ready to force himself into her personal space.
"Do you mind not sitting in my lap?" Another voice asked, and Betty blinked, looking up. A tall guy, closer to her age, had sat in the seat at the last moment. She quirked an eyebrow at him and he shook his head infinitesimally. Deciding to play along, Betty watched curiously as the scene unfolded before her.
"I mean," the guy continued. "As flattered as I am with the attention, I don't play for your team. So, there's really no point in being this close to me, Andrew."
Andrew looked shell-shocked at the guy, and stood up, stammering out apologies.
"S-Sorry, Jughead, I didn't know this seat was taken," he muttered, and Jughead nodded. Andrew turned around then, and headed off in the opposite direction, only pausing when Jughead called him back.
"Oh, and Andrew? You'd be wise to leave women alone in my bar," he added, the underling threat clear. Andrew nodded once and scurried off. Betty laughed.
"Thanks," she murmured, taking another sip of her drink. Jughead shrugged.
"Don't mention it…" he trailed off, and Betty filled in the blank.
"Betty," she supplied.
"Betty," Jughead replied, small smile quirking at his lips.
"What happened to your face, Betty?" Jughead asked.
"What happened to your knuckles, Jughead?" Betty asked in return, eyes zeroing in on his bloody and bruised knuckles. Jughead chuckled.
"Accident," he replied.
"Same here." Betty remarked.
"Oh, yeah? How so?" Jughead challenged her.
"Fell," she said simply. Just as he was about to open his mouth again, Toni came back to their side of the bar.
"Hey, Jug," she greeted her friend, and Jughead nodded once at Toni.
"Toni," he returned the greeting with a simple smirk. Betty took one last sip of her drink before sliding the glass back to Toni and leaving a twenty on the bar top.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay with me tonight, B?" Toni asked, eyebrows pinched together in worry. Betty shook her head.
"It's fine," she replied, sliding back into her sweater. A quick nod to the bill on the counter told Toni to keep the change. Then, Betty was out into the night, headed in the direction of her home.
It wasn't too long before someone caught up with her.
"At least let me give you a ride," Jughead said, and Betty whirled around so fast she nearly got whiplash.
"God, don't do that," she hissed, and he looked contrite.
"Sorry," he murmured. "Didn't mean to startle you."
Betty wasn't much in the mood to be comforted so shrugged. "It's fine. I've got to go, though."
"Where you headed? I can give you a ride," he said again, and Betty debated. Here she was, in the Southside, with a stranger offering her a ride home. It screamed danger and yet, there didn't seem to be anything outstandingly dangerous about Jughead. At least, not off the first impression he had given her. Hesitating for a moment longer, she eventually nodded her head.
"I live on the Northside," she replied. If he was surprised, he didn't show it. Just led her to his bike and handed her the helmet in the basket on the back. After looking at the helmet, then the bike, uncertainly, Betty eventually gained the confidence to swing her leg over and get on. They were off, into the night.
XXX
By the time they got onto her street, Betty tapped him on the shoulder and Jughead slowed down to a stop.
"Here's fine," she said, and he kicked the kickstand down to help steady the bike. She got off it and handed him his helmet back.
"Can I get your number?" Jughead asked curiously. Betty bit her lip, thinking about what her father would do to her if he knew she had talked to someone other than who he deemed appropriate. She nodded regardless.
"Sure," she murmured, and accepted the phone Jughead handed her. After typing in her number and saving it, she handed the phone back to him.
"Well, I'm this way," she said, tilting her head down towards the end of the street. Jughead nodded.
"I'll be seeing you, then," he replied. Then, with a quick turn, he was gone down the street.
XXX
Jughead and Betty texted intermittently throughout the upcoming weeks. Whenever she could spare a moment to herself or get out of the house, she'd text him. He told her about the Serpents, more than Toni ever did, and she was fascinated. In turn, she told him pieces about her life, but not enough for him to be suspicious. Just then, her door flew open and Betty barely had time to turn her phone over.
"Who the hell are you talking to all the time?" Hal growled, and Betty could smell the stench of whisky rolling off him in waves.
"No one," she replied, fists curling. She wasn't about to tell him about the only two people in her life she had come to care about.
"Well, it ends here," Hal said, stumbling his way towards her. Betty stood up, alarmed, and watched as her father swiped out for her phone – she held it out of his reach.
"You're drunk, dad. Go sleep it off," she said soothingly, hoping to placate him. These were the wrong words.
"You idiot girl," he growled, slamming his elbow into her eye. Betty gasped as she toppled to the ground from the sheer amount of force Hal had exerted. He kicked her in her still healing ribs and she felt one of them crack again. Inhaling shakily, Betty curled up on the ground into a protective ball and listened as her father stomped towards her door, and slammed it shut. The lock clicking on the outside further signified the hell she was in.
XXX
Betty wasn't sure how many days had passed since Hal had locked her in the room but it was enough to note that what was once was starvation was now a dull ache in her stomach. She wasn't even sure if she could handle food right now. Her palms, a littered mess of half crescent moons and blood, found their way to her fingernails again and she relished in the pain. Just then, she heard her father calling up the stairs.
"I'm going out of town for a couple of days," he said, then the door slammed and there was only silence echoing in Betty's ears. Betty vaguely wondered if she'd be able to pick the lock on her door and sneak downstairs for some food now that her dad was gone, but she wasn't sure if she had the energy. Sighing, she curled up in her bed and let the exhaustion take over once more.
XXX
She woke up to someone shaking her shoulder.
"B? B. Betty," Toni's soft voice filled her ears and Betty blinked her eye that wasn't swollen shut open.
"T?" Betty mumbled.
"We're getting you out of here, Betty," Toni promised, easing the other girl up.
"Who's 'we'?" Betty asked, wincing as her ribs jostled. It was then that Toni cut her eyes to two guys in the corner. One she didn't recognize but the other…
"Jughead?" Betty asked, and he nodded.
"Come on, Betty, we don't have much time. Your dad is only gone for a couple of days," he said. The exhaustion was starting to clear and Betty looked at him.
"How do you know that?" Betty asked quietly.
"I'm the one who came up with the plan to get him out of town while we got you out of here," he replied. Betty, not having the energy to question him anymore, allowed Toni to help guide her to her feet and then out of the room.
"God," Toni groaned. "She's so thin, Jug."
Jughead appraised her thin-as-a-rail waist, before narrowing his eyes.
"First things first, we need to get her out of here before that miserable excuse of a man shows up once he realizes he was sent to the middle of nowhere on a job that doesn't exist," he replied.
Betty just nodded, letting Toni lead her out of the house. It was then that she noticed a car, and not a bunch of motorcycles like she was expecting.
"Come on, B," Toni said, allowing the girl to climb in.
"I don't have any of my stuff," Betty muttered, leaning against the door wearily.
"Don't worry about that, Sweet Pea is packing up some of your stuff as we speak," Jughead said. Betty wondered who named their kid Sweet Pea. Then, she wondered who named their kid Jughead. They couldn't be their real names. She was too tired to ask, though, so opted for nodding instead. The last thing she heard was the engine starting, then she was back into the black abyss.
XXX
When Betty woke up it was late, that much was clear. She was in a bed, (not hers', she noted), and changed out of the jeans and cardigan she had been in and into sweats and a tank top. Wondering who changed her, Betty tightened the comforter around her despite the discomfort it brought to her ribs.
"Don't worry, Toni got you changed," came Jughead's quiet voice. She gasped, snapping her head up to meet his eyes. He was sitting in a chair next to the bed, keeping his distance, as he looked at her.
"You didn't see anything?" Betty demanded, voice hoarse. Jughead shook his head and reached for the pitcher of water on the nightstand.
"Here, drink this. It'll help," he said, handing her a glass he poured. Her hands shook as she took it and took a long drink. Her mouth was dry – incredibly so. Wanting to be around someone she knew, Betty looked at Jughead.
"Where's Toni?" Betty asked timidly.
"She went to Pop's to get half a dozen burgers for you," he replied, and Betty sighed in relief.
"I get to eat," she murmured.
"You'll never be hungry again. Not on the Serpents watch," he said firmly. She nodded, muscles feeling stiff.
"Thank you," she whispered, touched by this kind stranger. But, if he knew Toni, he wasn't much of a stranger.
"Get some sleep," he murmured, tracing his thumb lightly across her forehead. She couldn't remember the last time someone had been this gentle with her. Perhaps when she was little and her mom had still loved both of her daughters.
"I will," she replied softly, drifting off again.
XXX
The next few months were filled with healing for Betty. She'd wake up every night, wrenching herself out of the grips of a nightmare. The first few times she screamed herself awake, then, that slowly faded and she'd just jolt awake, sweaty and shaking.
The first time she truly realized she had a fear of the dark was when, after getting a job at the White Wyrm, she went down to the basement to restock and the door accidentally shut and locked her in. She banged on the door and screamed her head off, flashbacks of being a prisoner in her own room, until she heard thundering footsteps and then the door being yanked open. Toni and Jughead captured her into a hug and held her tightly as she took deep, calming breaths.
Her first true turning point in her recovery was when her ribs became less pronounced and she didn't feel the urge to claw at the skin in her palms. Then, the next turning point was when Jughead offered her a place to live until she saved up enough money for her own place. They stayed in his flat above the bar and spent countless nights talking until the sunrise about her past. She bared her soul to him and he drank in every bit of information greedily.
"You're not broken," Jughead said one night, after a lengthy conversation about how damaged she felt.
"Juggie," she whispered, brushing away a tear that had fallen.
"You're not," he insisted. "You're beautiful. And perfectly flawed."
She stared at him for a long moment, noticing that something had shifted between them.
"I'm going to kiss you now, alright?" Betty asked, and he smiled.
"Alright," he whispered. She hesitantly cupped his cheek, tracing her thumb along his cheekbone, before brushing her lips across his once, twice, three times. It was a simple kiss, filled with promises of better tomorrows. They didn't say anything after that, not that they needed to, she just tucked herself into his side as he wrapped an arm around her.
And, when they decided to start a family of their own later on, Betty didn't feel the need to share her fears of not loving her children properly with him. He just knew. And promised her she wasn't her father. And that was good enough for her.
Author's note: Yeah, not really sure what this is but felt like writing it as a standalone. Hope you like it. Xxx