Romeo and Juliet
Chapter 1
Summary: They've compared themselves to Romeo and Juliet, just with a happy ending. But things never go the way that people hope and plan for them to go. And it's never as easy as everyone hopes it will be.
Disclaimer: I don't own Riverdale, the characters, or Romeo and Juliet. This is my first Riverdale fanfiction, and the story is supposed to be slightly AU, so if the characters are slightly OOC, please attribute it mostly to the AU-ness of the story, and only partly because I am still getting a feel for how the characters act.
Riverdale was not like Verona, Italy. The Jones' and the Coopers' were not the Montagues' and Capulets'. But for Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper, their love, in other ways, resembled that of the famous literary lovers. Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III, born to Forsythe Pendleton "FP" Jones II, leader of the Southside Serpents gang in the Southside of Riverdale. Elizabeth "Betty" Cooper, born to Alice and Hal Cooper. Two very different teenagers, from two very different upbringings. And because of a secretive past of Alice Coopers, very little chance of them interacting. At least, that's what Alice hoped. But life is not something that always works in your favor, and as it would have it, life did not work in Alice Cooper's favor when she tried to keep her youngest daughter away from the young Jones boy. Because in a twisted set of events, Jughead and Betty's paths did cross, but like with Romeo and Juliet, their love story was not one that sailed smoothly, and it wasn't because of constant interference from Alice.
The first meeting between Jughead and Betty was at a dance. Like with Romeo and Juliet's first meeting, it was a masquerade ball, held at Riverdale High School. It was the weekend before Halloween, and Jughead was only there because he had been talked into attending by his best friend, Archie Andrews. Betty, however, was there because she enjoyed dressing up as someone else, even if only for one night, and putting on a mask so that no one would know that it was her. She secretly credited her "dark side", as she would come to call it, for this love of putting on a mask and becoming someone else. Her best friend, Veronica Lodge, was by Betty's side when hers and Betty's eyes simultaneously landed on Jughead and Archie across the room, but when the boys' eyes landed on the girls, everyone else seemed to disappear for Jughead and Betty. Their friends' voices faded away along with everyone else, and the two teens made their way towards each other, not knowing who the other was, but feeling a connection to the other, despite everything else. When Jughead and Betty met in the middle of the dance floor, or at least in the middle point of the distance that had been between them, Jughead held out his hand to Betty, and when she laced her fingers with his, he led her away from everyone else, and to a secluded room outside of the gym where the ball was being held.
Very few words were spoken between the two teens once they had reached the destination that Jughead had in mind, for as soon as they had gotten to the room, and the door had closed behind them, Betty's lips were on Jughead's and Jughead was pulling Betty's body into his. It was Betty's first kiss, but despite that, it didn't hold any of the awkwardness that she had long assumed would accompany a first kiss. It wouldn't be until much later that Betty would find out that it had also been Jughead's first kiss as well. Not long into the kiss, their masks started to cause issues, and so the two teens pulled away from each other briefly to remove them, before mentally planning on moving back in towards each other. But when Jughead caught sight of Betty's blue-green eyes, and the way that the moonlight reflected off her blonde tresses, he halted. The girls at Southside High School were the opposite of Betty. Where Betty was prim and proper in her clothing style, the girls at Jughead's school were more rockesque in style. And it was in this moment that Jughead knew that he preferred Betty to anyone that he went to school with.
"You're beautiful." Jughead murmured as he wrapped one arm lightly around Betty's waist to pull her a bit closer and his other hand came to rest against the side of her neck with his thumb brushing a few stray strands of hair away from her cheek.
"Thank you." Betty replied in a small voice as she tried to look anywhere but at Jughead's piercing eyes or tempting lips.
"There's nothing to be timid about." Jughead commented as he took in Betty's determined gaze constantly darting to and from his face.
"I've never done anything like this before, so I'm not sure what to do." Betty admitted.
"You've never kissed a complete stranger in an empty classroom before? I have to say, that doesn't really surprise me. You don't seem like the kind of girl that would do something like this on a regular basis." Jughead said, his voice filled with teasing humor that brought a smile to Betty's face.
"I've never kissed anyone before... and kissing a stranger has never crossed my mind until tonight. And to confirm... you are still a stranger to me. Clearly you know Archie since you showed up with him, but I don't know you." Betty said as she tentatively brought her arms up to wrap around Jughead's neck.
"How did you know that I showed up with Archie?" Jughead asked, an eyebrow raised.
"A mask does nothing to hide Archie's hair, and he's been my next-door neighbor and one of my best friends since childhood. I would know him anywhere." Betty replied.
"So that would make you Betty Cooper." Jughead said with a look of realization on his face.
"Yes... and you are?" Betty asked, trailing off at the end of her question.
"I go by Jughead, because I want to distance myself from the name my parents gave me. Archie usually calls me Jug." Jughead replied with a smirk.
"Jughead... that's an interesting choice. Is it somehow related to your name?" Betty asked.
"Not at all, but that's why I like it." Jughead said before leaning in and pressing his lips to Betty's in another kiss to stop the conversation... at least for now.
Betty wanted to protest the end of the conversation, but the feel of Jughead's lips against hers, without the hinderance of their masks made her forget her protests. Jughead's lips were soft and warm against hers, and this kiss was slow, and almost meaningful, and it caused Betty to sigh into it, with her body melding into the contours of Jughead's body. At Betty's sigh, Jughead took the opportunity to dart his tongue out to lick along Betty's lower lip, seeking permission to explore her mouth. Somewhere in the back of Betty's mind, there was a voice screaming at her to not let this encounter go any farther than it already had, since she still didn't know anything about this boy, other than his preferred name, but her heart gave in, and gave Jughead the permission that he was seeking. It wasn't much longer after that an interruption came in the form Archie and Veronica bursting into the room, sans their own masks, both looking a bit frantic.
"We gotta go, Jug." Archie said as the door closed behind him and Veronica before glancing over his shoulder out the small window in the door.
"Way to ruin the moment, Arch. But what's the rush?" Jughead asked as he took Betty's hand in his and turned to face his friend.
"The Serpents are here... and so are Betty's parents. If they catch the two of you together, there's going to be trouble." Archie explained.
"I still don't understand why there's so much animosity between my parents and the Serpents. It's not like the Serpents have ever done anything to my parents." Betty said as she leaned into Jughead's side.
"Seriously guys? We aren't kidding. We all need to go, now." Veronica said.
"Why do you and Betty need to leave?" Archie asked.
"It would be best if Betty and I head back to the ball, while you get Jughead out of here." Veronica explained.
"What do you think Betty? Do you want to risk our respective families finding us together?" Jughead asked, turning to look at Betty as he pulled her closer.
"Only if you are." Betty said with a smile.
"You two are insane. Betty, let's go." Veronica said as she grabbed her friend's hand and lightly pulling her away from Jughead's embrace.
"I don't want to go, V. I'm perfectly content with staying right here with Jughead." Betty said with a frown.
"Guys, we need to speed this up, the Coopers are heading this way with FP." Archie said as he strode away from the door and back to the others.
"Crap." Jughead muttered.
"What's wrong?" Betty asked.
"If my dad is here, then I really shouldn't be here. You and your friend stay here, Archie and I will sneak out the back way to avoid detection. But I will see you again soon, I promise." Jughead said as he took both of Betty's hands in his, brought them to his lips and kissed them.
And with that, Jughead and Archie were disappearing into the night, just as quickly as they had appeared. But Betty secretly promised herself that she would keep Jughead to his word about seeing her again soon. Now that she had met him, she couldn't imagine her life without him in it. But if there was going to be tension between her parents, and Jughead's father's gang, they were going to have to find ways to see each other without their parents' finding out. As that thought occurred to Betty, she glanced at Veronica and smiled at her friend. Veronica and Archie were going to have to help them out. Sort of like the Nurse and the Friar that helped Romeo and Juliet in the play. But Betty knew that she and Jughead, however similar their lives might be to the star-crossed lovers, her love story with Jughead wasn't going to end in a double suicide.