Being married as a teenager was not the life Jughead Jones ever thought he would have but none the less, there was was standing with Betty Cooper (now Jones) at his side and he couldn't be happier.
Growing up Jughead always had a soft spot for Betty; she would bring him extra food for lunch, pay for his burgers at Pop's and when his dad was running late to pick him up from school, she would beg her mom to let her stay longer to keep him company. Over the past year the pair had become closer hanging out with each other at every possible moment.
One weekend Jughead had taken Betty to visit his mom & sister in Toledo with him to formally introduce the blond as his girlfriend. Jellybean was over the moon with the news as well as Gladys who also had a fondness towards Betty. JB had taken Betty to her room for "girl talk" when Gladys brought up the Cooper family. "How do they feel about you being a couple?" she asked
"They actually like me. It may have taken a while at first but they do like me enough to feed me most nights" Jughead scratched his chin "or maybe it's a ploy to kill me" he added in his usual sarcastic manner
His mom threw the nearest item (which was the cloth used to dry the dishes) and added "so you love the girl huh?"
Jughead looked down at his fingers and started playing with the wrapper from his water bottle "yeah mom I do. I never thought it would happen let alone with Betty but she's the one. I don't know how to describe it but I can just feel it." Jughead looked up at his mom who was smiling at the door behind him
"you love me?" he heard from behind and turned to see Betty who had changed into her home clothes. She walked towards his place at the kitchen island.
"I'll leave you two to it" and with that Gladys left the room
"Jug?" Betty's voice brought him back to reality "you really love me?" he nodded in reply. "Why? How? Juggie why me?"
"Why not you Bets?" he replied "you are an incredible person, kind, caring, loyal, loving and best of all" he took her hands in his "an amazing cook"
Betty laughed slightly, tears forming in her eyes "Jug please"
"Betty don't cry please. I stand by it and so much more about you. I don't care what anyone else thinks or says."
"I love you too Jughead" Betty said wrapping her arms around his neck leaning into him "more than I ever thought I would be able to love anyone else. You've helped shape me into who I am now and I don't want this to ever end" her voice got caught.
Jughead looked into her eyes for a while before saying "So it won't." She gave him a pointed look "we'll stay together. Forever." As if a lightbulb had just gone off above his head "hold on" Jughead got up from his seat and went up to his mom's room where she was sitting on her bed with JB. He quickly returned with one had behind his back and got on one knee "marry me Elizabeth Cooper." He produced a ring that his mom used as costume jewelry, it had a silver band with a green stone that matched her eyes. He looked into them searching for a response.
Betty nodded "yes" and Jughead enveloped her in a hug, the pair holding on to each other as if their lives depended on it.
The following day had gone by in a flash. Gladys and JB had congratulated the two with the promise that the latter will be a bridesmaid. Jughead & Betty had set of back to Riverdale early in order to talk to Alice & Hal. Jughead knew that the Cooper parents liked him and were now happy with him dating their youngest daughter but getting married was a whole other story. From what he knew about the elder couple, they too had been high school sweethearts so he hoped they would understand.
Jughead pulled up outside the house and jumped out to help Betty out of the car and the two walked up hand in hand to the front door. On the drive down, they had decided that Betty shouldn't wear her ring until she had her parents approval which took a lot of persuading on Jughead's behalf "I want to do this right Betty. I want to make sure you will always have your mom & dad in your life" he'd pleaded to an even more stubborn than usual Betty Cooper. The compromise had been that she wears the ring on right hand instead.
Upon entering the house, Betty headed straight for the kitchen where her mother and father were eating. The Cooper parents looked shocked to see them "You're back early, is everything okay?" Hal asked
"Everything's perfect. I'm heading up to my room" Betty replied and kissed both her parents on the cheek, gave Jughead pointed look and left the room.
"Did you need something Jughead?" Alice asked indicating to the empty chair between her and Hal
"Actually I did" Jughead sat down "as you know I love your daughter very much, I have done for many years. The first time I saw her, I knew she was special, IS special. Over the past year, she's made me realize just how special family is to her. How important you both are to her. My mom's already said yes to this and I know my dad will in a heartbeat so.." he paused taking a breath "with your permission, I would like to marry your daughter."
Hal looked at Alice with an amused look "He wants to marry our daughter."
"I heard that Hal but which one" she looked at Jughead trying to hide her smile "we do have two daughters you know" They saw the look of panic the teenagers face "we're kidding Jughead but marriage is a big responsibility especially for teenagers."
"I know Mrs Cooper but I have a plan. Fred let me move into the garage last month so I'd have my own space. It's not anything fancy but it's our own space. I'm going to work at the book store after school and on weekends to earn enough for a deposit for somewhere to live. We're going to make this work" he looked between both parents "I love her too much for it not to."
Alice nodded at Hal as if they would communicate without talking "we'll say yes with a couple of conditions" Jughead nodded profusely "you'll allow us to loan you money for the things you need. I know how stubborn you Jones men are when it comes to help" Alice continued " We would expect it back at some point of course"
"Of course" he replied without hesitation
"we have mandatory family meals once a week either here or at your place and grades will remain at the highest standard, for both you and Betty."
Jughead nodded "Thank you, thank you so much" The parents stood and made their way to where he was now standing and they hugged him.
The teenage boy headed upstairs to see Betty who was now sitting on her bed with Polly. Jughead walked in wearing a big smile and nodded towards Betty who ran into his arms, he lifted her up and twirled her around. Polly got up from the bed and walked towards the newly engaged couple, placing a hand on both of their arms "congratulations guys"
"Thanks Pol" Betty replied for them both and Polly walked out. "One more person left to tell" Betty said looking into Jughead's eyes
"Bets my dad loves you already. He's gonna be over the moon for us" the girl nodded "we should go now." The pair went downstairs stopping for the Cooper parents to congratulate the two and they set of for the trailer park.
Walking into FP's trailer and not being greeted with the smell of alcohol was something Jughead was still trying to get used to. FP Jones was sitting on the couch watching TV when they walked in, he got up and hugged his son and kissed Betty on the cheek. "Can I get you anything?" he asked as he made his way to the kitchen
"No thanks Mr Jones" Betty replied
"It's FP now, especially if you guys are getting married." The couple looked at each other in shock "did you really think both Gladys & Alice weren't going to tell me?" he asked keeping a neutral face
"Dad I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner…" the younger Jones started but was cut off by his dad
"Are you kidding? I'm not mad about that. I'm over the moon for you guys but Jughead I wish you would have told me. I have something to give you. Both" he disappeared into another room for a few moments coming back with a black velvet box and handed it to Jughead who opened it with Betty looking over his shoulder. "This ring was my mothers. She and my dad were married for 68 years before he passed. Mom left this for you in her will, said it'll bring health and happiness and eternal love."
Jughead looked up at his dad and hugged him tight. The elder man wrapping one arm around him and opening the other for Betty, the three of them stood like that for a while. They broke apart, the younger boy got down onto one knee and re-proposed. It was the start of a new journey
The wedding was held the following Saturday with only family present. During the week the Cooper-Jones families had arranged all the necessary paperwork for the wedding, found a cheap apartment not too far from the families or school and Gladys & JB had even moved back into the trailer for the week as a trial.
Held in the park where the couple had met for the first time as infants and were married by Razor, a serpent who had been ordained for his sisters wedding. The reception was held at their new apartment comprising of food from Pop's. So far it was furnished with a bed, couch and tv but the couple didn't need anything else. They spent the rest of the weekend painting the walls and unpacking their belongings.
By the time Monday morning rolled round, Betty & Jughead were pretty settled in. One of the couple's presents from Polly was two silver chains for their rings so if they weren't wearing them on their fingers, it would be close to their hearts.
They arrived at school ten minutes earlier which was part of their plan to avoid telling their friends especially Archie and Veronica who would throw a hissy fit if they were to find out. It wasn't as if they were ashamed, on the contrary, the newly weds were elated they just didn't want any judgement. Fred of course knew about the marriage and the apartment, he had helped arrange the place through a contractor he'd previously done work for.
As far as Archie knew, Jughead had moved back in with FP and Betty was away visiting Polly. The parents knew and respected the teens for wanting to keep things private.
15 minutes before first bell, Veronica came barging into the Blue and Gold office with Kevin behind her, where Betty and Jughead were on the couch, her legs on his lap as she was sleeping and he catching up on some reading. "Good morning love birds and isn't it a glorious morning?" she asked in her chirpy voice. She placed a second coffee cup on Betty's desk "you both take your coffee the same right?" By this time, Betty had also woken up and was sitting next to Jughead who was nodding in response to Veronica's question. "So how was your weekend? Archie mentioned something above moving"
"yeah I moved out of the garage" Jughead replied keeping it as vague as possible, he didn't technically lie.
"What about you both? Anything fun happen?" Betty asked in order to draw attention away from the two of them which was a success as the raven haired female launched into a detailed account of her weekend until the bell went off and they all left for the first class of the day.
They managed to carry on with their routine for five months before Archie noticed Betty was never home. He'd casually mentioned it to Veronica one day saying that he hadn't seen the blond at home in a while but Veronica being Veronica decided it was her job to investigate further.
One lunch time as the four of them were sitting at the outside picnic table, Veronica sat down opposite Betty "I've just realized it's been a while since we've had a girls night so how about me, you, Ben & Jerrys and all the cheesy 80′s movies we can find?"
"sounds good. Your place on Friday?" Betty asked smiling
"actually we're having some renovations done so your place? I'll bring the snacks, come along Archie" Veronica got up again and left before Betty could protest with the red head following.
"Juggie what do I do?" Betty looked panicked "my mom still doesn't like Veronica that much so that's not happening. Maybe we should just tell them" her breathing started to speed up "they're going to find out eventually right? Why not tell them ourselves?"
Jughead took her hands in his to calm her down "Bets it's going to be okay. Follow my breathing." Jughead took slow deep breaths as Betty tried to follow eventually coming down to the same pace as her husbands. "Instead of a girls night in on Friday, in two weeks it'll be our six month anniversary so how about we invite our friends over and tell them then."
Betty nodded along "two weeks. I better go tell Veronica, see you at home husband " she got up and kissed Jughead and whispered "after cheerleading practice" and walked away leaving him flustered.
Two weeks. The whole meal was planned, Betty was going to cook a big meal including strawberry cobbler which had quickly become Jughead's favorite dessert, but does anything ever go to plan in Riverdale?
No, no it doesn't.
On the Thursday night (the night before the dinner was planned) Jughead got a call from Veronica explaining that Betty had been injured at cheerleading practice and had been rushed to Riverdale Memorial. He felt like his world was spinning out of control, he couldn't focus on anything apart from getting there as fast as possible. Arriving at the hospital he asked the nurse for instructions as to where to find his wife, he ran to the waiting room where the rest of the River Vixens, Alice, Hal, Archie, Kevin & Polly sat. He walked up to Alice who greeted her son-in-law with a quick hug.
"how is she? Have they said anything?" he asked frantically
"Not yet son" Hal responded shaking Jughead's hand. The younger boy nodded and sat next to Polly who was holding her restless daughter Ellie in her arms. Jughead had always loved kids especially Ellie, his goddaughter who held out her chubby arms towards him and moved into his arms. She settled immediately resting her head on his shoulder. FP had arrived not long after with JB as Gladys was still at work and they sat down behind the Coopers.
Almost an hour later, a doctor came out and headed for the large group waiting. "Family of Elizabeth Cooper-Jones?"
Jughead as well as the Coopers & Jones had stood up as the rest of their school friends looked on with mixed reactions, some were shocked, others just plain confused. "Which one is Forsythe Cooper-Jones?"
Jughead walked to the front, handing Ellie back to Polly as he moved "that's me. How's Betty?"
"Mr Cooper-Jones, your wife sustained a minor head injury. We carried out a series of tests to make sure it was nothing serious as most head injuries can go undiagnosed for a long period of time. Fortunately she's a tough as nails. We'd like to keep her in overnight to be on the safe side other than that, you can go visit her." The rest of the waiting room stood up at this "Only family at the moment I'm afraid" he addressed the rest of the room before looking back to Jughead and family "she's in room 413, last room on the left" and he walked away.
The Coopers & Jones' families made their way to the corridor when they notice Jughead wasn't following them. They looked at him and nodded understanding he'd have to tell his classmates the full story.
He turned to the room and went into explaining the full story from their first meeting to their first date, the first time they kissed to the first time they exchanged i love yous which happened to be the night he proposed. By the end, most of the room was in (happy) tears.
He disappeared down the corridor into Betty's room to see her wide awake and playing with Ellie. The rest of the family decided to call it a night as it was fast approaching midnight and all bid the couple farewell. Jughead kissed her on her forehead before kissing her gently on the lips.
"What a great first anniversary huh?" she joked, a smile gracing her lips
"I'm with you so it's an amazing day anyway" he replied smiling "by the way, the rest of the squad plus Archie & Kevin knows about us now so the rest of the town should do by tomorrow."
Betty shifted over in her bed patting next to her for Jughead to lay down, he wrapped his arm around her holding her close. "I love you Elizabeth Cooper-Jones"
"Love you more Forsythe Cooper-Jones"
FIN
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