Thunder roared through Riverdale as Betty Cooper walked the streets in search of her best friend, Jughead Jones. He had run away from home and some people were worried. Only Betty went out looking for him though. She shouted his name a couple times and went to the drive-in.
She knew he lived here before so maybe he would be hiding out here. She shoved the door open and walked up a narrow case of stairs cautiously. She stopped to pull out the flashlight from her phone. Betty examined the projector room and saw a thick bag settled under a desk. She looked a little more and saw Jughead sleeping on a worn out cot.
She sighed a sigh of relief and turned off her phone. The natural light creeped in and she knew where Jughead was. Betty took her flats off and set them down by his bag. She took off her coat and laid it over the projector. She stepped in front of his cot and kneeled down in front of it. Her hand reached out and ran through his hair. He groaned and shifted. Betty smiled and got up on the bed with him.
It was a small cot so she laid on her side and looked at him up close. Their noses were basically touching. Betty sighed and snuggled up to him. He woke up and rubbed his eyes.
"Betty. What are you doing..." She put her finger on his lips to silence him and he laid back down. Betty stayed where she was and traced his jaw with her finger. He smiled and closed his eyes again. Jughead fell back asleep almost instantly which gave Betty enough time to lightly kiss his cheek.
He has no idea but Betty is madly in love with him, hence the laying in the same cot without caring, tracing jawlines, etc. Betty sighs and rolls over, his hand naturally falling over her hip. She covered them up with the bunched up blanket and whispered to him before she fell asleep.
"I love you, Jughead. Good night." And with that, her eyes fluttered shut.
Flashback-
"Juggie! I made you something. Happy Valentine's Day." A five year old Betty handed a little Jughead a wrapped boxbox with a red ribbon. He smiled and stood up, taking the box and gently ripping it open. He pulled the top off and saw a cupcake that looked like a burger.
"Thank you Betty! I'm sorry, I didn't get you anything this year..." His face fell but he put the top back on the box and threw away the wrapping paper. Betty smiled and gave him a hug.
"That's okay, Juggie. We can just hang out today!" Betty held his hand and they walked back inside the school.
Betty woke up from her memory/dream and rubbed her eyes, looking back to see if Jughead was there. He was still sound asleep. She smiled and got her phone off the little box beside the cot. It was already 10 am. Thank god it was Saturday or else she would be dead. Betty pulled up a Destiel fanfiction and began reading.
After twenty or so minutes, Jughead groaned and reached for Betty. When she wasn't beside him he shot up and looked around for her frantically. She sneezed and he followed the sound to see her laying on her coat on the ground beside the cot. Jughead frowned and rubbed his eyes.
"Betty, what are you doing? I was warm..." He flops back on the cot and lightly pats the spot next to him. She gets up slowly and he spots her loose curls. Aw. He smiles slightly and she sits , crashing down in her spot while scrolling down the fanfiction page. He spoons her and rests his head in the crook of her neck.
Betty stopped scrolling and starting freaking out. Jughead Jones, is spooning her. Ah! She squeezes her eyes shut and smiles. Maybe he likes her... Nah.
"Hey Betty, does anyone know you're here right now?" She sat up and shook her head. Nobody listened or cared when she said she was going to go find Jughead. Not even Archie came with her. Although, if he did, they wouldn't be spooning right now. They would be sitting in the police station.
"Nope. Only me, myself and I. But Jug, can I ask why you ran away?" Her soft voice whispers to him. Jughead sighed and tried to think of how to say it without making her cry. Oh, calm down. She won't cry.
"Uh, my dad came home that night and starting beating me, telling me I was a disappointment and nobody wanted me. I packed up my bag and ran because I didn't want to go to the hospital again. I left before it got that bad." He finished and gulped. Betty turned to face him and cupped his cheek.
"Juggie, why didn't you come to me?" Betty felt her eyes getting glossy but she refused to cry in front of him. Jughead sighed.
"I didn't want to get you involved. You shouldn't even be here right now. You should go home, Betty." He furrowed his brows and she shook her head with a confused face.
"No, not until you have a safe place to stay. This place is getting torn down in a week, Jug. Come stay with me or Archie. Archie would love to have you over and if not you can stay with me. My parents are out for the next two weeks visiting Polly." Betty's face lights up. She wouod love for Jughead to stay with her. But he won't. She knows it.
"Alright." Nevermind. Jughead tosses the blanket aside and stands up. Betty blushes due to the fact that he is only wearing boxers and an S shirt. She slips off the cot too and slides on her flats.
"So, who's house am I staying at?" Jughead puts some light gray sweatpants on and laces up his sneakers. Betty smiles.
"Which house would you prefer, Jug? Archie would be a better house guest. And company. And friend. But I have a lot food. And you can use Polly's bedroo-" He cuts her off.
"Why can't I stay with you in your room?" Jughead smirks and crosses his arms. God, he looks adorable right now. No beanie so his hair is majestically fallen, a T shirt, some sweatspants that hang in a certain way and his high top Converse. Betty chokes on her words.
"U-um, you can. Totally. I just assumed you wouldn't..." Betty trails off and he smiles.
"I'm just messing with you Bets. I'll stay in Polly's room." He scoops up his bag and walks over to the desk, folding a picture and tucking it into his pocket. She put her coat on and smiled at him. He turned off the light and they walked down the stairs.
"So, we have a lot of leftovers from Mexican night. And some pasta. Feel free to look through the fridge anytime. Um, the bathroom downstairs doesn't work right now so use mine or the upstairs one. That's all really." Betty claps her hands and starts up the stairs. She opens the door for Jughead and rushes to her bed to close her yearbook, of course having a red heart around Jughead.
"You can set your bag down on the window seat. I'm going to use the bathroom really quick. Be right back." He nods and sets his bag down. Jughead shrugs and hears her footsteps descending down the steps. He goes over to her dresser and looks at some pictures. He's surprised to see one of him when they were young.
Jughead wants to open her drawer just thanks to curiosity but he tries to reason not to. He sighs and opens the top drawer to find a lot of lace. His eye catches on one specific one in the back. He reaches for it and holds it up. It's a black, see through lace bralette. His eyebrows raise and he lazily folds it and tosses it back when he hears her footsteps.
Jughead shuts her drawer and leaps over to his bag. He acts like he was unzipping it and smiles at Betty when she comes back up. She looks around and lands on the picture of him, her hand gently pushing it on its front. She sits down and shrugs.
"What do you want to do?" Betty flops on her bed and sits indian style. Jughead points to her TV and she scans her movies, stopping on one.
"Okay, put on The Departed." Betty softly demanded. Jughead chuckled and popped open the dvd to put on clearly her favorite movie. Betty loved this movie, more like Leonardo so much because he looked and acted like Jughead. And well because he is a fantastic actor too.
Betty lays on her stomach to watch the TV and Jughead sits with his back against her bed beside her. They both got comfortable and waited for the movie to begin.
Flashback-
Jughead picked a couple wild flowers and tied them together with the same ribbon Betty used for his gift. It was the day after Valentine's and he wanted to show her he cared. Jughead searched the front courtyard and saw a familiar blonde beauty sitting alone on a bench. When she saw Jughead her face lit up.
"Hi Juggie. What's this?" She reached for the flowers and set them gently beside her. Jughead gulped and anxiously shifted from foot to foot. He bite his lip and ran away.
"Juggie wait!" He stopped running and sat down in his favorite spot in the woods behind the school. He watched Betty run into the woods and go where he was sitting. She crossed her legs and sat down across from him, he took deep breathes and couldn't calm down.
Betty tried to tell him relaxing things like watching a sunset, eating a burrito, etc. But he wouldn't calm down. Jughead tried to think of his favorite things and he closed his eyes. All he thought of was Betty. Her pigtails, her pink dresses, her smile, all of it and he could breath now.
Betty leaned in and pecked his lips with hers. His eyes shot open and she looked very guilty. He smiled and kissed her back. Again, this was around first grade so it wasn't that magical, well for them it was.
"Thanks, Betty." He blushed.
"Anything for my Juggie." Betty stood up and walked out of the woods to go find her flowers and talk to her other bestie, Cheryl. The two of them were always talking about their dance class but they loved drinking Sprite together too.
Betty's eyes fluttered open and she looked to see what time it was. She must have fallen asleep during the movie. Jughead probably turned it off so she could sleep and then left for Polly's room. It was 2 am! What? Betty swung her legs over the bed and stepped on Jughead's thigh, causing her to fall across him and wake him up.
"Betty, are you okay? What is it?" He shot up and rubbed his thigh a little. His hands were pulling her up in a sitting position. He looked so pretty. She smiled and started laughing. Betty just fell over Jughead. Wouldn't be the first time she's fallen for him though.
"Why are you sleeping next to my bed? I have a lot of space for you in the bed or in Polly's room..." She trailed off. Jughead shook his head.
"Well, hate to break it to you but, we aren't dating. That cot thing, I was too tired to talk about what happened. And tonight, I still wanted to make sure you are safe because of the Black Hood thing." He finished and she got up. Betty wanted to cry. He doesn't like her. Not like that. She nods and goes into her bathroom, locking the door behind her.
"Betty! Wait are you okay?" He knocked and twisted the knob. She sunk to the floor and started crying. She covered her mouth so she wouldn't let him hear her. Jughead sunk to the floor and leaned against the bathroom door. He knew he had upset her but he was just being honest.
"I'm sorry, Bets. Please come out. We can play a game or just talk on your bed if you want. We can talk about the good old days back in first grade. Or when Cheryl dumped Archie because his hair wasn't red enough for her. Just come out, please." He heard her unlock the door but not come out. He stood up and slowly opened the door. Betty was laying in the bathtub, fully clothed, playing with the hem of her shirt, showing a sliver of what her mother made her work so hard for.
"I..." What should she say? That she loves him? That they should talk? She shrugs. "I think that sounds like a great idea." Betty stood up and walked back into her bedroom with Jughead. She laid back down on her bed and he went back to his sleeping bag.
The natural light shone across Betty's face and blinded her when she woke up. She rolled over quietly looking to Jughead, who was texting someone. She read some of the texts and he finished the conversation with 'I love you'. Betty's heart dropped. Jughead loves another girl.
It takes a while for him to develop a liking for someone so when he says he loves you, you must be pretty great. Betty rolls onto her back and holds back tears. She doesn't like crying over boys but this boy just broke her heart and he didn't even know.
"Who are you talking to, Jug?" Betty sleepily asked, curious if it was Toni or some other girl. Jughead jolted at her voice and looked back to his phone while sighing.
"A girl. You don't know her yet. She's coming to our school this Monday, actually. We're uh, dating." Betty sucked in a breath and nodded with a forced smile. Jughead lit up when he talked about her but Betty couldn't hear him. She was too heartbroken to focus. He smiled, like really smiled when he told her an inside joke between them.
"Oh. Yeah that is funny." Betty forced another smile and laid back down. Jughead stopped talking and she assumes he keeps texting this new girl who she will see tomorrow. Betty starts having more flashbacks of when her and Jughead were young but now she can only think about how he found someone else. Probably better than her.
"Hey, you okay? You seem... Off." Jughead puts his elbows on her bed and rests his head on his arms while looking at her. She fake smiles for the third time and nods.
"I'm fine. Just tired. I uh, can't wait to meet your girlfriend..." She trails off because she didn't catch her name. She didn't want to know it. Betty wanted Jughead to herself.
"Oh, Sabrina. Sabrina Spellman."