Watching
This is a work of fan fiction. No copyright infringement intended. I own absolutely no part of The Archie Comic world.
Sometimes Betty wished she smoked, so she had an excuse to dip out between classes or at Pop's, so she could clear her head and relax for a few minutes. She knew this to be a ridiculous thing to yearn for, but she couldn't seem to find solace in the things she usually enjoyed.
She couldn't help the grimace that graced her face when Archie would reach out to sweep stray ebony locks of hair from Veronica's face. She couldn't help but feel her heart drop into the pit of her stomach at the sight of their fingers laced together. It wasn't a pang of jealousy that caused her disdain, but her own lack of a significant other that brought her emotions bubbling to the surface.
She also couldn't help but watch longingly as Jughead typed away each day after school in the office of the Blue and Gold. She didn't mean to, but recently she had taken notice of her friend's attributes. She often wondered what his hair would feel like if she snatched his beanie away and ran her fingers through his raven tresses. She couldn't help that her tongue darted out to moisten her lips every time he bit his lip in concentration, she felt an overwhelming urge to bite it too. However, Betty hadn't anticipated that someone might be watching her as well.
She hadn't a clue that every time she huffed in frustration she would turn the slightest shade of pink. When she would let her hair down from her signature pony tail, she would shake her head slightly, allowing her golden waves to frame her face. Jughead couldn't get enough. He savored the long hours they kept, especially when they would proof read together. Betty would lean over the desk, taking the mouse from him, her sweet perfume teasing his nostrils. It was pure torture, he loved every second of it.
He watched her long fingers sweep across the keys of the computer, or stacking the papers before they were to be dispersed; wondering how they would feel running through this unkempt hair. He closed his eyes and bit his lip, reveling in the thought of it. He never really had fantasized before, but this was as close to it as he'd come.
Jughead simply never had a reason to, he never seen girls the way boys usually do. He was irritated by their arrogance and their incessant need to giggle and flirt. It turned his stomach. Girls just weren't on his radar, until now.
They grew up together, Betty, Archie and himself. They played in the sand and mud on the shores of Sweet Water River. They had taken baths together as toddlers for god's sake. He'd watched her then, running around in her sundresses and pig tails. Swinging on the play set in Archie's back yard. Eating popsicles on the curb side during summer vacation. He watched as the sundresses and pig tails made way for her high pony tail and fitted jeans and sweaters. He honestly didn't know when he had started to see Betty this way, but he also didn't know how much longer he could stand on the side lines and watch has she chose someone else. Again.
First Betty chose their very own Archie Andrews to fawn over. When it proved to be a "better as friends" situation, she pined after Reggie Mantle, of all the people in all the places… Jughead shook his head, it was a terrible judge in character if you asked him. After all, Reggie could barely pass his classes to stay on the football team, much less have an intellectual conversation with anyone. To Jughead, it was like watching someone receive a series of paper cuts as a punishment.
The friends were too preoccupied with their thoughts to pay any attention to the third party in their midst. Jughead was thoroughly engrossed with thoughts of when he would finally tell his childhood friend that he liked her. He was so entranced by how and when he would reveal his feelings towards her, had had taken to playing with the curl on front of his head. Twisting the stray piece of hair around his fingers in contemplation.
"Jesus Betty, need a drool cup? How about you Jughead?" Kevin's abrupt interruption of the musings of the pair broke their entrancement.
Kevin, and innocent bystander, working on an article of his own for the Blue and Gold, was shocked at what he had witnessed. Jughead leaning back in his rolling chair, one hand resting at the nape of his neck, the other fiddling with the lose piece hair that lolled in his face on a regular basis, his lip firmly planted between his teeth, catching glimpses of Betty through side glances and long pauses in his typing. And Betty, the ever sweet and innocent Betty. Kevin had known for awhile now that she longed to be anything but the former. She wanted to be free and daring, date boys who weren't Bulldogs. She pined after several of them and it ended in an awkward way.
Kevin watched as Betty watched. He watched as she intently licked her lips, coveting Jughead's sinfully handsome features. He knew this was coming, he'd been watching them both for months. How could he not? They wrote almost every article for the paper together. The tension in the office was thick and palpable, it seeped into your pores and permeated the very fiber your being. He had taken to cruising again, needing to release his own tension, the atmosphere was so heavy in their presense.
Jughead looked over at Betty, jarred from his own thoughts at the sound of Kevin scolding them. Her mouth was slightly ajar, pupils dilated, and hair wild around her shocked expression. His own pulse quickened as realization set in.
"Shut up Kev! I was just thinking!" Betty's eyes met Jughead's and he smiled devilishly at her. She blushed a deep rosey pink and fanned herself.
"Yeah, I can see that Betty, I need to find a date. I'll leave you both to… IT! Later Jughead." Kevin had goosebumps, he needed to leave. Gathering his book bag and jacket, he took one last glance at the ever yearning duo and wished for just a moment that he could be one of them and left.
"Sorry Juggie, I was just…" She couldn't stop staring, she was heated and he was mesmerizing.
He reached for his beanie on top of his head and tugged it off. Rising from his seat opposite her, setting the woolen hat on his desk.
"It's okay Betts, I was too." His eyes darkening as comprehension finally hit her. She blushed even more intensely and he never loved the color pink so much.
"I- I should probably um…" Betty stood as well now, unsure of how to proceed, all the while her heart was hammering in her chest.
"Should probably what Betts?" The lanky boy stood in front of her, his fingers lightly grazing her own. She'd longed for his touch for what felt like an eternity, it was electric.
"I uh, mmmm…" She allowed the sensation to overtake her, eyes closing in sweet relief. "I can't remember." She opened her eyes, a smile gracing her face.
"You're so beautiful." He said, fingers ghosting across her jaw, her whole body was on fire now.
"Juggie…" She tried to say anything at all, but she was too slow to react, Jughead's full mouth engulfed hers.
It was like being home, she felt the weight on her shoulders lift. There was just Jughead and her, they were all that mattered. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss, parting his lips slightly, she accepted. Betty had never been kissed quite like this before, it took her breath away. She reached for his hoodie, grasping it in hopes of bringing him closer than he already was. She had wanted this for so long and it was so much more than she thought it would be. They broke away reluctantly, gasping for air, resting their foreheads together.
"I've been waiting to do that for, God, it feels like forever." Jughead finally said, meeting her eyes. "I just couldn't sit around and watch anymore."
Her smile was wide and she felt so refreshed. He was smug in the fact he'd finally kissed Betty Cooper.
"You want to get a milkshake with me Jug?"
"A burger too if we're really being honest here."
They left quickly, hand in hand, to the Choc'lit Shoppe. Finally, the pieces had fallen into place.