**NOTE: This takes place directly after episode 13. IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE WHOLE SEASON, DON'T READ THIS YET!***
She had always been the perfect child from the perfect family. Her parents had been high school sweethearts, and her sister was the most popular girl in school. She tried her best to make her parents proud and uphold the family name. She had a 4.0 GPA and perfect attendance, but things aren't always what they seem from the outside. In a small town like this you knew everyone, and in turn, everyone knew you. That included all of your deepest and darkest secrets. Her parents fought every night and her mother had kicked her father out of the house. In retaliation, her father fired her mother from The Daily Register, and her sister was pregnant with her dead boyfriend's baby.
The dead boyfriend was Jason Blossom. He was a member of the wealthiest family in town and there wasn't a single person that wasn't talking about his death. It happened on July 4th, and his twin sister Cheryl had a story that not everyone believed. She said they went for a boat ride that morning, but it capsized and Jason drowned. There was an investigation that followed. After months of false accusations and an innocent man confessing it was discovered that Jason had been murdered by his own father. Consumed by his guilt, Cliff Blossom hung himself in the family barn surrounded by two of families' legacies. The first being the maple syrup that the Blossom family was known for, and the second, barrels full of heroin that Blossom had been trafficking through the family business for years.
Since then the town once consumed by the murder of a wealthy boy was finally starting to return to normal. The high school gossip that once gripped every student in attendance was now put to rest and she was trying as hard as she could to stay the girl she was before the murder. Her name is Elizabeth Cooper, but she went by Betty. She'd always hated her name.
Somehow over the last year she had fallen for the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. His father was a member of the Southside Serpents, the local biker gang. I'd had several places I'd crashed over the last year. Currently, I was sleeping in Archie Andrews' garage. My name is Forsythe Pendleton Jones III, but everyone calls me Jughead. I had always hated my name too, which was something we had always had in common. We had known each other our whole lives, and she had never seen me as anything else, until recently.
I'd loved her for as long as I could remember. She had always had eyes for my best friend Archie, but he didn't feel the same. At the time she had been crushed, but I saw it as chance. She'd asked me to write with her on the school newspaper. I was reluctant at first but she insisted that I'd have complete creative freedom about the Blossom case, and I couldn't turn down an offer like that.
Here we are a year later, in my dad's trailer making out on a kitchen counter. My dad was in jail for his small part in what led to Jason's murder. My mother was "over-extended" in Toledo with my little sister, and they had seen no other option that to place me in foster care. There was a loud knock on the trailer door and the Serpents were standing on the stairs. They handed me a leather jacket with the green serpent on the back. For some reason, without a thought I put the jacket on. I didn't know what possessed me to do it. The serpents had always been there for me and my dad when no one else was. For all intents and purposes, they were the only family I really had left. Out of the corner of my eye, Betty was peeking around the corner and through the cracked door.
"Juggy?" she asked quietly, concerned.
"Betts-" I stuttered, quickly saying goodbye to the Serpents on my doorstep and rushing back inside.
"I should go. My parents are probably wondering where I am." She said walking towards the door and staring outside.
"Look at me." I begged. She slowly turned around and avoided making eye contact with me. "Please?"
I put his hand on her waist and a finger under her chin.
"This jacket doesn't mean I'm going to start trafficking drugs and running a crime ring." I said quietly. "It just means I'm part of the family. You understand that, right?"
"Sure, Jug." She pulled away and tried to turn around again.
"Wait." I said catching her elbow. "I thought you were going to stay a while."
"I gotta go, Jug. I'll see you tomorrow." She said walking through the door.
"Betty." I said one last time trying to convince her to stay. "I love you." I said hoping that it would change her mind. She just quietly nodded her head and gave me a polite smile, the same smile she gives random passerbys in the high school hallways.
"I know." She said leaving and walking to her car outside in the rain. I let out a frustrated sigh and took off the leather jacket I'd just been given. It seemed that just having it my possession had already started to taint what I had left. I threw it angrily into a dark corner of the trailer and sat back down on the couch. The night had gone from the precipice of perfection to another cold, dark, night alone in my dad's musty trailer.
"Damnit" I said to himself. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and wanted to message Betty. I needed to know that I didn't just lose her the same night that I realized I'd completely fallen for her. I looked disgustedly at the jacket in the corner. When I put it on, just minutes ago, I'd had a sense of belonging that I'd never felt before. I didn't think it would upset Betty to the point that she'd leave.
The next morning, I pulled myself up out of bed and sleepily stumbled my way through the kitchen making coffee and turning on my laptop. Sitting down I pulled up the novel I'd been writing about the Blossom case. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with it when I was done. It just seemed like the case was the perfect fit for my voice as a writer. Just as I was about to start finishing it up, my phone started ringing. I couldn't help that when the caller ID showed Archie that I was slightly disappointed.
"What's up, Arch?" I asked half awake.
"He might not make it, Jug." His voice cracked on the other end of the line.
"Who? What are you talking about, Archie?" I asked concerned.
"My dad, Jug" He gasped on the other end of the line.
"What? What are you talking about?" I couldn't seem to comprehend what exactly Archie had just said.
"I met him at Pop's…last night…something went wrong…he shot him."
"Stay where you are. I'm on my way." I said hanging up with Archie and immediately calling Betty.
"Hello?" she answered half-heartedly, I couldn't tell if it was because she was still asleep or if it was because she was still mad.
"Betts, I need a ride to the hospital. I just got a call from Archie. Something about his dad being shot." I rambled.
"What?!" She said suddenly sounding awake.
"Please, Betts." I paused.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute." She hung up before I could say anything else.
Thirty minutes later we were in the lobby of the ER. Archie's mom was on a flight in from Chicago, but her plane had been delayed due to weather. Betty and I sat in an uncomfortable silence for some time before either of us tried to say anything. Flashes of last night kept going before my eyes, he kept remember how happy he'd been before that stupid knock on the door. The feeling of needing her close, the feeling of her kisses on my neck. Nothing had ever felt that intoxicating.
"Betty." I said quietly without looking at her. "Please tell me you're not done with me because of what happened last night."
"You should have told them you had to think about it, Jug" She said stiffening in her chair and adjusting her jacket.
"You're kidding, right?" I scoffed.
"No." She said glancing at me. I could see in her face that she didn't want to be angry but in true Betty fashion, she at least had to pretend first. At least, that's what he hoped was going on.
"Betts, I'm still the same guy. It's just a stupid leather jacket, it was them trying to show solidarity and do right by FP. You know they're kind of the only family I have right now." I said putting a hand on her arm to get her attention. Her shoulders softened and she finally made eye contact with me and smiled.
"I just worry about you, Juggie." She said putting her hand on mine. "I just want you to be safe and happy." She finished. Just as she was about to speak again, I heard Archie from somewhere behind me. His voice was full of anger and I felt someone shove me out of the chair from behind.
"New jacket?" Archie said through gritted teeth. His face was red, and I could see the tears on his face.
"What?" I asked standing up and trying to regain my balance.
"Don't ask me 'what'." He said flying around the side of the row and pushing Jug again. "You're supposed to be one of my best friend's Jug."
"Archie!" Betty said getting in between them.
"Move out of the way, Betty." Archie said seething.
"No! What happened, Archie? We've been sitting here for-" Archie pushed her out of the way and took a swing at me with his already broken hand. I reeled back, the side of my face was pounding and throbbing with a searing pain. I took a deep breath and lunged back at Archie. We fell onto the floor in a fit of left and right hooks. Betty tried to get up from the floor and pulled back on Archie's shoulders.
"STOP! He didn't do anything Archie!" She pleaded.
"NO!" He flung her off his back and she fell backwards hitting her shoulder on one of the low tables behind her in the waiting room. Sheriff Keller showed up just in time to see Archie pummel me in the face again.
"Hey!" He said as he and his deputy pulled us apart. Archie was still fighting against Sheriff Keller's grip.
"What the hell is going on?" Keller asked moving to stand between the us. Betty was still on the floor rubbing her shoulder in confusion.
"Where'd you get the fucking jacket, Jughead? Huh?" Archie asked taunting him.
"Does that really matter?" I asked putting my beanie back on my head. I could feel his eye already starting to swell and I could taste the blood in my mouth.
"That's what I thought." Archie spat.
"He could still make it, Arch." Betty said as a nurse came to help her up.
"NO, HE CAN'T BETTY. He died ten minutes ago. I thought you were my friend Jughead" Archie said.
"What are you talking about, Archie?" I asked looking at my best friend and wiping the blood off my mouth.
"A Serpent shot him in the robbery, a Southside fucking Serpent, Jughead." He said getting in my face. "Or should I just call you FP?" He said spitting the words out sourly. Archie looked me up and down disgustedly and walked out of the ER. Betty looked at Jughead confused.
"No. This is not how that's going to end." She said firmly "I'm going to go talk some sense into Archie. I'll be right back, ok?" she said quietly. I took a deep breath and sat back down with the weight of the world on my shoulders. I could see Betty trying to talk to Archie outside in the rain. I still didn't see how a stupid leather jacket with a snake on the back could turn my best friend against me. I watched Betty outside as she tried to convince him that I was a good person.
Later that afternoon, Archie's mom had finally made it in from Chicago and funeral planning had already begun. I couldn't shake the last time I'd heard Fred Andrews' voice. Fred and Archie were fighting in the kitchen over where I should stay. Fred thought I should move into the garage because of my dad's arrest and Archie stood by my side. He stood up for me. I remembered how heated they had both been. It haunted me that the last time I'd heard Fred's voice was when he was pointing out all the problems I had caused.
"What's on your mind, Jug?" Betty asked coming over and sitting down next to me on the couch back in the trailer. I'd somehow managed to convince her to come back with me after the morning's events. She had been reluctant, but I had to make sure she knew this wouldn't change me. I had to make sure that she knew how important she was to me. She was everything to me and nothing was ever going to change that. She slowly climbed into my lap and I leaned back relaxed against the couch. This was new, Betty usually wasn't the type to do something like that.
"Lemme see that eye, Juggie" she whispered looking at me concerned. She brushed my hair back out of my face and gently touched my worsening black eye. I winced as her fingertips grazed it.
"What are you doing, Betts?" I said trying not to get my hopes up that something might happen. It wasn't easy when I felt myself wanting her even more than I did last night.
"Taking your mind off of everything." She smiled as she kissed me. Every fiber of my being wanted nothing more than to take her up on the offer, but something was stopping me.
"Don't you think we should talk about what happened last night? Before the Serpents came over?" My palms were sweating. She put one hand on either side of my face. Her touch sent me into a flurry of emotions. I felt my pants get tight just from her touch.
"Just don't break my heart, Juggie." She breathed quietly. "Please?"
"I would never do that." I said looking into her eyes. She slowly pulled my beanie off and set it down the couch beside us. She ran her fingers through my hair and every hair on my body stood on end. I closed my eyes and my head fell backwards. Call it hormones, call it pure human need, I wasn't sure what it was. I quickly picked her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist laughing.
"What are you doing?" She said putting her arms around my neck.
"I can't wait anymore." I said trying to take her to my room. We made a pit stop to make out on the counter in the kitchen before finally making it my room.
An hour later she was laying next to me and I was playing with her hair. I could feel her slow even breathing against my skin and I closed my eyes taking it all in. There had been other girls before her, but nothing had ever felt like that. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked up at me. She propped herself up on her elbow and put a hand on my face and smiled at me. It was enough to make want to do it all again, and again, and again. Who said we'd ever had to get out of bed again?
"You ok?" She laughed looking at me. I'm sure I looked pretty out of it.
"You have no idea." I said as I put a hand behind my head to get a better look at her.
"What's that mean?" She laughed again. I paused, almost embarrassed to tell her exactly what I meant.
"That." I said trying to see if she could just catch my drift.
"What?" She was toying around with me. I took a deep breath.
"I've never cum like that before, Betts." I said finally hoping she wouldn't think I was being weird.
"Oh sure, Jug." She said instantly not believing me. I threw my head back and laughed. She looked back at me like I'd lost my mind.
"I'm serious. I didn't even know it was possible for anything to feel like that." she giggled and got out of bed.
"Where do you think you're going?" I said not letting go of her hand as she got up.
"To the bathroom?" She said confused. I shook my head laughing until I realized there were spots of blood on my sheets. I don't know why it surprised me. It's not like I thought Betty had been sleeping around. I felt like an idiot at how I had given in to being impatient.
"Betts." I sighed, suddenly really upset with myself.
"Juggie?" She said back jokingly from in front of the bathroom mirror.
"Damnit, Betts." I said again rolling onto my back and mentally beating myself up.
"What's wrong?" She asked her brows knitted with concern.
"You should have said something." I said.
"I don't get it, what should I have said?" she said sitting down on the edge of the bed wrapped in a sheet. Her hair fell down over her shoulders and the light coming in through my blinds lit her up and made her glow.
"Your first time shouldn't be on a damn kitchen counter." I said spitting it out. "Damnit." I cursed again.
"It could have been in a car for all I care, Jug. What matters is it was with you." She said, I crossed my arms and looked back at her.
"No, it shouldn't be there either. I should have made it special for you. Not on a night when we're planning Fred's funeral."
"Juggie." She said lying back down next to me. She pushed my hair back out of my face and I looked at her. "Stop it." She said looking me square in the eyes.
"If I had wanted dinner, rose petals, and fancy hotel rooms…I would have waited. I would have told you that's what I wanted, and I would have turned you down last night. You wouldn't have even gotten my shirt over my head, Jug." She said
"But that's what you deserve. You deserve rose petals and dinner…maybe not in that order, but you catch my drift." I said starting to loosen up.
"Nothing could have been more perfect then what just happened. You even said it yourself." She said smugly. "The only thing that I would change is what happened this morning, you know that."
I narrowed my eyes and looked at her. "What?"
"Just for reference. Pure fact finding, you understand." She said being professional. "Exactly how many other girls have you…?"
"Are you seriously asking me that, Betts?" I hoped she was kidding, I took a deep breath before I spoke again. "Just for reference?" I asked. She nodded her head and I reached out and flipped her onto her back. I held myself up over top of her and kissed her. I felt my whole body start to tingle just by being close to her.
"It doesn't matter" I pulled back and whispered. It wasn't like I had an entire black book full of girls I'd been with, I didn't want her to think she was another notch in my belt.
"It matters to me, Jug."
"If I tell you, promise me you won't be upset." I said still pinning her down.
"I promise." She said
"Two."
"Two?" She said curiosity seeping into her voice.
"The first was behind the drive-in with a girl whose name I don't even really remember, and the other had been a one night stand after a night of too much drinking in Archie's basement. Satisfied?" I said.
"Mmhmm." She said. I could already see the gears turning in her head trying to find out who it was.
"Stop that." I said moving my mouth to her neck and kissing down towards her shoulder. "it doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm in love with you, and that makes this completely different than anyone else." I tugged at the sheet wrapped around her chest and kissed the little bits of skin hiding underneath. She leaned up and kissed me again. I could feel myself get hard again when she ran her fingers up and down my back. She bent her leg and brought it up to my side. I moaned quietly and nuzzled my head in neck.
"I need you." she said almost animalistic, her breathing ragged. I could feel her warmth on my leg as I slowly pushed myself into her. She pressed her head back against the pillow and moaned. Earlier had been out of need. It was fast and dizzying, needing each other to be as close as possible. This time I took it slow with her. Every time I pulled myself out, I paused just before going back in again. Rhythmically we moved together, she pushed her hips up against me and I pressed them back down again. I could feel her as she tightened around me and she moaned, digging her nails into the skin on my back. It made me dizzy, as I tried not to cum until she was done. She pulled me closer and whispered in my ear.
"Just let go." she said, her breath tickled against my ear as I came with her. I laid myself down on top of her exhausted, and she giggled as she ran her fingers through my hair.
"You're incredible, Betty Cooper, do you know that?" I said into neck, kissing it one last time before rolling on to my back to catch my breath. Her phone started buzzing and pulled me out of my haze.
"It's my mom." She sighed with frustration.
"Tell her you're with Ronnie." I said trying to convince her to stay with me.
"I can't. She knows Hermione is preparing for Hiram to come back, she doesn't want me there right now." She sat up and started getting dressed.
"Come back, you're too far away." I pouted. It didn't last long before she laughed and threw my boxers in my face.
"Walk me to the door, Juggie." she said putting on her shoes. I sat up and pulled them on and then pulled at the side of her shirt gently. She turned around I crawled up to put my hands at her waist. I gently kissed the skin showing on her legs, and tried to put my hands up under the hem of her skirt.
"Down boy." She said putting her hands on mine. "You know I don't want to leave, but she'll literally kill me if I don't." she said looking down at me. I was slightly disappointed that she'd put her hair back up in her classic ponytail.
"Just stay tonight. You can sneak back early tomorrow morning before she wakes up from her xanax nap." I said in a last ditch effort to get her to stay.
"You know she'd have the whole town out looking for me. I'll see you tomorrow, Jug." I got up and walked her to the door. As she walked outside into the rain, I stood leaning against the door and didn't stop myself from checking her out.
"I love you" she said one last time before letting my hand go and leaving the trailer. What I didn't know was that Archie had been coming over for round two. What I didn't know was that he'd seen us, together, in the throws of passion and raging hormones. We hadn't told Archie about us yet. What I didn't know was how he would react.
Just as she drove away my phone buzzed on the counter behind me. When I picked it up there was a message from a number I didn't recognize, and there in the picture was Betty Cooper and I, probably taken through my bedroom window. I took one last look outside the trailer before going back in. That was the beginning of the end.