Alright, I have so many story ideas for Riverdale ships but none of them fit in my main book as well. So while I'm waiting for my beta reader to read through my main book, I'll be writing one shots. Mainly ones about Bughead, but you guys can request other ships as well. I will only not do Barchie. Sorry Barchie fans. I will also not have a beta reader for this book. Thanks for checking this book out!
When Betty starts to receive calls from the Black Hood, she grows more and more desperate. Then he tells her to cut Jughead from her life.
Oneshot from 2x5; When A Stranger Calls
SELF HARM IS INCLUDED IN THIS CHAPTER WHICH SOME READERS MAY NOT LIKE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED :)
Betty sat in the Blue and Gold, her conversation from the night before still raw in her mind. Jughead, the son of a Serpent. Cut him out of your life, or I will.
Hadn't she done enough? Her mother. Veronica. She couldn't imagine staring into Jughead's eyes and telling him she was done with him. She knew he would figure out she was lying and end up in danger.
She didn't notice when the door of the room opened and someone walked in.
"What the hell was that last night?"
The sound of Archie's voice broke her from her concentration and she closed her eyes in guilt. She had crossed a line at Veronica's. God, she was a horrible friend.
"Betty?" Archie demanded. Betty opened her eyes and looked at her desk.
"I lied to you." Her friend didn't seem interested in what she was saying and didn't reply. Grief twisted in her stomach and she glanced at him. Archie had narrowed his eyes and was looking at her like she was a different person. Maybe she was. She looked away, back at her desk. "When you asked me if the Black Hood called again, he did."
Archie stayed emotionless. He stared into her eyes, searching for some sort of hole in her story.
"And he told me to cut Veronica out of his life or he…" Betty's voice trailed off, catching in her throat.
The young man finally broke his cold persona and narrowed his eyes in concern.
"And now he wants me to do the same with Jug." Saying his name caused a flurry of raw emotion spiking through her heart. She wanted to scream. She felt so… so helpless!
Once again Archie was mad, guilt washed through Betty. "Betty why didn't you tell me?" He demanded, hurt crossing his gaze.
"Because I knew you would try to talk me out of it!"
Archie was silent for a moment, before he reached into his pocket for his phone. "You're right. It's my mistake." Pulling his phone from his pocket he started typing in a number and walking to the door.
Betty looked at him in confusion before quickly standing up. "Archie! Put the phone- put the phone down!" She hissed, grabbing his arm. Archie turned to look her in the eyes, emotion swamping his gaze.
"Listen to me. He hasn't attacked or killed… anyone, since we started talking. I think this is distracting him."
"Betty, he's torturing you. Making you attack your mom, Veronica, and now Jughead?" He sounded aghast that she wasn't as eager to get help as he was. "How are you going to put him, and yourself through that?"
The young woman wiped her unshed tears from her eyes and took a breath. "I was hoping… maybe you would do it."
Archie spoke after a slight pause. "What?" he sounded generally shocked.
"Maybe… you could tell him… that we- we need to just stay away from each other… for a while." Desperation clung to her voice like mud. Archie let out a disappointed sigh. "At least something… anything to keep him away. To appease the Black Hood-"
"-Betty…" Archie interrupted, shaking his head.
"It doesn't have to be cruel Arch, just enough to make Jug believe it." The conversation tore Betty apart. It would work though, it had to. If Archie told Jughead, he wouldn't even have the option to convince her otherwise. Archie rubbed the bridge of his nose, torn.
"We can walk it back later…"
"You mean we hope we can."
"No!" Tears tugged at Betty, and her voice felt weak and unstable. "We can, and we will." Archie didn't answer, just looked at her with a concerned expression. "Please, Arch." Betty took a breath looked him in the eye. "Don't quit on me now." As much as she tried to keep prevent it, her voice shook with grief.
Archie just stared at Betty for a moment, thoughts racing across his mind. Maybe it was the desperation in her voice, but he gave a silent nod before turning and walking to the door. He paused before he left.
"I hope you know what you are doing, Betty." Before the door closed behind him and Betty let out a sob, nails digging into her palm.
Betty was in her room, looking over a pile of homework that swamped her desk when her phone rang. Her heartbeat sped up and she shakily reached out to answer the phone call. Reading the name, she visibly relaxed before answering.
"Hey Arch…"
When Archie answered his tone was tinged with rage, but she knew it wasn't at her. "I did it. I told him."
"It's bad isn't it?" Betty's nails curled into her hands, digging into the soft flesh.
"Yeah, he didn't take it well." The young man answered and she swallowed back a sob.
Betty sucked in a pained breath before speaking as normal as possible. "Alright. Thank you, Archie." Moving the phone from her ear she heard Archie say something but she felt too sick to really hear him. She quickly ended the call before throwing her phone at her bed.
A scream rose in her throat but didn't make any noise when she let it out. Her mother could be downstairs, she had to still act perfect. At least around her mother. Tears streaked her face as she pushed aside her chair and quickly straightened up. She put her phone on her table and moved her pillows back to her bed.
Once she had finished cleaning up she dragged herself to her window seat and sat down, knees pressed against her chest. Betty's nails dug at her palm, digging deeper and deeper.
Then the haunting sound played. The Black Hood was calling. Betty shakily sat up and reached out for her phone. Putting the phone to her ear, she let out a shaky breath.
"Is it done?" The Black Hood asked, and she felt tears run down her face again.
"Yes."
"Ask me your question."
"There's only one I care about now." Her free hand curled into a fist, nails breaking the skin immediately.
"You want to know who I am." There was a pause. "Well, there is a house on the other side of Fox Forest at the end of the surface road. You'll find your answer there." With that the line went dead and she quickly gathered her stuff.
Pushing open the door to the old house, Betty searched the place, heart pounding. When her phone rang, she let out a gasp of surprise before drea settled in. Slowly, she pulled the phone from her jacket pocket.
"I'm here." she whispered. The knife she had brought feeling heavy in her pocket. The moment she saw the Black Hood, she would handle him.
"Do you see it?"
Betty felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked around. Finally, her gaze settled on a neatly wrapped box in the center of a room. "Yes."
"It's the answer to your question."
Betty walked forward, heart pounding. He wasn't in the house, was he? She knew she should've came early, to catch him in the act. Crouching down and setting her flashlight on the ground, she paused, looking at the present. Then she quickly pulled the ribbon off and lifted the lid from the box.
In the box was a single black hood. Fear swamped her mind, thoughts running through her head. Slowly, she picked it up holding it in her bloody hands as she stood up.
"Put it on."
Betty let out a wavering breath, "Why?" Her eyes were trained on the hood, fearfully keeping an eye on her surrounding. What if something jumped at her?
"Put it on and you'll see."
Shaking, Betty placed the hood over her face. She didn't want this. "It's on." she whispered.
"Turn around."
The young woman took a few unsteady breaths before turning. Was he behind her? Instead of the Black Hood, a mirror was placed directly in front of her.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Tears threatened to fall from her face as she saw herself in the hood. The green eyes. Her breath caught in her throat.
"To show you that we're the same."
Behind her, a floorboard creaked and she immediately pulled out the knife she had stolen from her dresser and pulled off the hood. In her hurry, the knife sliced against her wrist and she let out a gasp of pain. Only then did she realize the creaking noise was her own doing and she sighed in relief.
Blood was beginning to seep from her new wound and onto the wooden floor. It should've hurt, but it almost felt, nice. Like she really was in control.
Betty lowered the knife the her wrist again, cutting a different part of her arm. This time it hurt, but it released a sort of calming effect. For a moment, she felt in control. Still, she didn't have enough control. Betty looked down at the blood on the knife. She knew this was wrong. It hurt and was unhealthy and not what the perfect daughter should be doing.
Her arm was bleeding less already, when she held it level and not hanging by her side.
Cut him out of your life. I don't like sharing you.
The knife cut into her again, desperate to feel that reliving calm again. When she didn't feel it she tried her other arm.
Son of a Serpent. Unworthy of your love.
The Black Hood's words repeated in her mind over and over again. Every time she felt herself slip out of control in the past few days came back with twice as strong memories. When Betty cut into her arm again, she dropped the knife when she realized how deep she had cut into her arm. The knife clattered to the ground.
Tears streaked her face. Something was wrong with her. Horribly wrong. Without second thought, she raced outside of the house, arms dripping with blood. What had she done?
Betty's phone rang before she even made it to ten feet from the house. She scrambled to hang up, not caring who it was. Her arms burned with an unbearable pain, she didn't want to deal with anything other than getting home and hiding her ugly wounds.
Betty was in her room, re bandaging her arms for the second time when her phone buzzed. Quickly pulling her sleeves back over her arms, she hissed at the pain it caused. Picking up her phone she read the message with bated breath. When she saw it was from Archie she relaxed slightly.
Archie: Can you help with tuning this car?
Betty: Sure, where?
The next message was an address. She didn't ask any questions, because she knew she didn't want to be quizzed on anything either.
Gathering her stuff, Betty cast a faraway look at her arms. She was wearing a long sleeved white shirt and her bandages were well hidden by the shirt. Thank god.
Archie was waiting for her when she left her house, he was in his dad's truck. Betty offered a fake smile and opened the truck door, climbing in. She desperately tried to ignore the pain in her arms.
They drove in silence for a little while before Archie finally spoke up. "Jughead and the Serpents need the car for this street race. No, it's not legal so that's why we called you." Betty opened her mouth to say something but Archie kept on going. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you Jughead needed it-"
"It's fine. Keep driving." Archie nodded and they finished the drive in uncomfortable silence.
Leaning over to fix the car, Betty was painfully aware of Jughead leaning against the vehicle. They hadn't spoken for a moment. She had been working on the car for about forty minutes before Jughead came in to help hand her tools to help out.
It would have been nice if he just wanted to help, but she knew Archie sent him in.
"God bless Reggie Mantle and his inferiority complex." Betty started, hoping to strike some sort of conversation with Jughead. It pained her to see him to… cold. When he didn't answer, she tried again.
"His car's a lot like him, it's beautiful to look at, but not much going on under the hood." He didn't answer to that either and she fell silent. After a moment, she looked over to him. "Um, crescent wrench, please." Betty would've thought she was imagining talking to him at all if he didn't turn and reach into the toolbox before handing her the wrench.
"Thank you." He didn't answer. One of her hands clenched at his cold persona. Her nails dug into her skin before she pried them apart when she remembered her arms. Don't make another mistake like that again.
"This is what Serpents do for fun, huh? Street race rival gangs?" she asked as she tightened a car piece. Whenever she moved her arms, they twisted in a searing pain but made no sound that she was hurting. Keep pretending. She would remind herself.
"Just go ahead and say it, Betty." Jughead finally spoke, voice frustrated. She pulled away from the car to look at Jughead, who was turning to look at her. She would have relished at the fact he talked to her if it wasn't for how angry he was.
"You said you weren't going to join them, Jug." She turned her hurt gaze to him but he seemed unaffected. She had never thought she would see him so… harsh.
Jughead just looked at her, but she saw the hurt behind his acting. "And you said you loved me, and then you dumped me. Via Archie. Which by the way, is way worse than via text." Betty held back tears, sighing heavily.
"I'm sorry, Jughead." She searched his expression for emotion other than rage but found none. "It won't make any sense. But everything around us was imploding, and I did it to protect you." Betty tried to keep all emotion from her voice as her nails dug into her palm. This time she didn't do anything to stop them as they dug in her skin.
"Betty, you did the one thing that could actually hurt me." Betty felt her heart shatter and her nails dug deeper into her weak skin. Within moments, the skin broke and blood seeped from her closed fists. Jughead glanced down at the floor, but his gaze caught the blood on her hands and real pain shown in his eyes.
Betty quickly moved her hands away and swallowed hard. "Don't." She whispered before he could talk about her hands. "I- I have to go." Betty added, tears falling from her face. Quickly moving her hands to her face to wipe away the tears she sucked in a breath. The blood on her hands wiped off on her face and Jughead narrowed his eyes in concern, reaching out.
"Betty." He started sternly, reaching out to grab her arm.
The young woman quickly pulled her arm away, he couldn't see her marks that were caused by the knife. "The car's done." She added quickly before turning and hurrying off. Jughead didn't follow, he stayed where he was, watching her go. Betty let out a sob, not too long ago, nothing would have stopped him from going after her.
Betty watched as Jughead shut the car hood and started walking over to the car's front door. She had switched clothes to a tank top but pulled a jacket over herself to hide the scars on her arm.
Betty looked over to Jughead and tried pushing away her fear of speaking with him. "Before you get in the car, I need you to know…" she trailed off for a moment when Jughead walked over to her and looked at her coldly.
For a split second, his gaze went to her hands but then he looked back to her face. Betty could see the regret in his eyes but tried convincing herself not to lose her cool. "I never stopped loving you, Jug. I'm not sure I can." Jughead's expression didn't soften. "Also remember, don't ride the clutch and let it slip between gear shifts, okay?"
Jughead shook his head and maybe it was her wishful thinking, but Betty couldn't sworn she saw a ghost of a smile appear on his face for a heartbeat. "You're an enigma, Cooper." He said, getting into the car. Emotion swirled in Betty's mind and she turned away so nobody could see the tears glisten in her eyes.
She finally turned when she heard Cheryl wave the flags for the race to start. The cars immediately raced off, tearing up the road as they disappeared from view. Betty watched, face emotionless. Keep acting. The young woman told herself, waiting to see the cars return.
Betty was beside Kevin, whom she had made up with earlier, when Jughead's car returned. She had heard the call that the cop's were rounding up Ghoulies and looked around for someplace to get away. The moment Archie left the car and Jughead started yelling for everyone to get in the car, Betty quickly sat got in the passenger seat.
Jughead looked over at Betty, a hard to place look in his eyes before he nodded and started the car, racing off at full speed.
The scenery flashed by as Jughead drove faster to get them away from the cops. As they neared the Riverdale turn, Jughead kept driving and Betty narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Jughead! The turn!" She gasped but he ignored her. Rage sparked in her veins, she had been ignored too much. He needed to listen to her!
Betty turned to look at Jughead before sucking in a breath. "Jughead, stop the car!" she yelled and Jughead looked over at her. His face went pale and she looked at him in confusion, but he wasn't looking at her face, but at her arms. The car jolted to a screeching stop and Betty barely caught herself from hitting the headboard.
"Betty, you're arms." Jughead whispered, and the most emotion he had shown in a long time glistened in his eyes. Betty looked down, nervously before closing her eyes in regret. She had taken her jacket off unknowingly and one of her bandages was half off, revealing bloody marks.
"Jughe-"
"-Betty get out of the car." Jughead ordered and she swallowed a sob, opening the car door and getting out. To her surprise, he got out as well and rushed over to her. He grabbed her arm gently and slowly took the bandage off completely. Betty felt tears fall from her face.
"Did you do this to yourself?" Jughead demanded, voice breaking as he looked at her. Betty sucked in a breath and nodded. Jughead face twisted in guilt and shame and he took half a step back, looking lightheaded. "Betty… when?" He asked slowly, but it was clear he knew it was because of their breakup.
"Yesterday. I'm so sorry, Juggie-" Jughead let out a pained gasp and shook his head in denial.
"Why would you do that to yourself!" He snapped and she stepped back in shame. Jughead face was a mixture between grief and rage. Betty let out a sob and buried her face in her hands. Jughead shook his head, murmuring to himself. "First you break up with me then you go and… and hurt…" He broke off, unable to keep talking.
"I didn't want to break up with you!" Betty finally blurted out, tears running down her face. Jughead stopped, looking to her in confusion.
"Archie said you had been agonizing over it for… for weeks…" Jughead whispered and shook his head.
"It had to be believable…" Betty replied, tears soaking her face.
Jughead closed her eyes tightly, muttering to himself. "What do you even mean?" he snapped and Betty barely held back a sob.
"I had to, to protect you! He told me to! He said if I didn't cut you out of my life, he would!" Betty snapped, looking at the ground. It felt amazing to tell Jughead the truth but his reaction ruined any chance of letting her stay relieved for long.
"Who? Archie?" Jughead scoffed and shook his head in disbelief.
"No! Him!" She snapped, she didn't want to say his name. Jughead looked at her in confusion before it clicked in his mind.
Jughead stepped forward, on the verge of tears. "The Black Hood?" When Betty nodded, he rushed over and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh Betts… I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have known something was up…" He was definitely crying now.
Betty pushed him away slightly, looking him in the eye. "Don't be sorry!" she pleaded and he shook his head in guilt. "Look at me." Betty ordered, voice wavering and face still red from crying. Jughead forced her gaze upwards. "I love you." Betty whispered, pressing her lips to his.
It was in that moment, that they were carefree. Oblivious to the world and the world's events. Because for the moment, they were both happy and in love.
Wow. That was REALLY LONG. My others won't be as long. Well, I hoped you enjoyed!
