The following morning, Jughead woke up and tried to get his bearings on what happened last night. When he remembered the events from last night, a smile spread across his face as he opened his eyes, but slowly faded when he looked next to himself and noticed he was alone in the bed. His outstretched arm that once held Betty was now empty. Jug sat up and looked around the room and wondered where that girlfriend of his disappeared to. Shortly after his mind questioned her location, the wonderful aroma of bacon wafted into the room and answered his question, adding a smile back to Jug's face.
He got out of bed and found his boxer briefs and as he put them on, he noticed a spot on the bed. It was hard to notice since the sheets were dark, but Jug knew what it was. The blood of a virgin, and knowing that made Jug blush and smile at the same time. Jug left the room and walked out to the kitchen where he found a blonde standing infront of a stove, spatchula in hand, nothing on except for Jugheads shirt as she lightly moved to a song that must be stuck in her head since there was no music playing.
Jugs chuckle gave away that he was in the room. Betty turned her head and looked a little startled but she did her best to hide it.
"Oh, you're up." Betty asked as she smiled before turning her focus back onto the frying pan infront of her. "I hope I didn't wake up. I was hoping to have this done before you got up."
"No you didn't wake me, but I'm glad I did wake up. You probably would have eaten everything and saved me just a crumb." A chuckle came from his throat as he playfully joked with her.
A playful shocked look crossed Betty's face as she turned around and scoffed at him, then she giggled and decided to go along with it. "Well of course. Why should I share my bacon when I did the hard work of cooking it? Go back to bed so I can have it all!" More giggles came from Betty as she shook her head at Jughead and stepped closer to him. "How was your sleep?"
Jughead chuckled at her and closed the gap between them, putting his hands on Betty's waist as he looked down at her. "My sleep was wonderful. What we did before sleep was even more wonderful." Jug planted a kiss on her forehead then brushed her messy hair out of her face.
A smile came to Betty's lips and blush came to her cheeks at his comment about the sex they had. "Yes, it was. I am so glad I could share my first time with you." Before her cheeks could redden more, Betty turned back to the food. "The second best thing about last night was that for once, we had no drama to deal with. No mysteries to solve, or Serpents to question, or drama between parents. It was peaceful last night, just the two of us being together." She turned off the stove and dished the eggs, bacon and toast onto plates.
Jug nodded in agreement. "It was a nice change, but we won't be able to have nights like that often. If it's not murders that we're trying to help solve, it'll be people throwing eggs at my house or people saying rude things about me when we're together."
"Jug, don't say that." Her blue eyes looked at him and wished he would stop being hard on himself like that.
"Betty. I know your speech at the Jubilee last night will help, but some people are going to be assholes no matter what. No matter what kind of lovely, inspiring speech someone spues out, there are always going to be those who don't give a rats ass what anyone says and they'll continue to be assholes because that's just how they are." Jug looked off to the side and shook his head. He wasn't angry, and he didn't mean to sound like he was but he was frustrated. He didn't have to be liked by everyone in Riverdale, but the hateful words that get thrown at him were hurtful. Especially when they got his father involved. "As long as my father is in jail, and as long as he keeps interacting with the Serpents, I will never be able to escape the hateful people. I will never be able to escape the fact that I am the son of a man who's in prison. Almost everyone in Riverdale is judgemental. Not everyone is open about it, a lot of people keep their mouths shut and gossip around their dinner tables, but the ones who aren't afraid to approach their target will say nasty things." Jug remained looking down and to the side, hurt and anger welled up in his eyes as he tried to fight off the tears.
Betty stopped what she was doing and put her hands on his face. "Hey, stop that. You need to stop worrying about what others think. I love you Jughead. I love you, Archie loves you like a brother, and I bet you anything Veronica thinks of you as a brother too. Your dad loves you. He is in jail right now because he took the blame for Jasons murder all because he was protecting you. Who cares what John Doe thinks of you, or me, or anyone else. Who cares what Mary Lou thinks and gossips about when having dinner with their family. You have me, and a handful of other people who would take a bullet for you." The names Betty spoke of were fake, obviously, but she was trying to make a point. "Jughead, don't worry about things that you can't fix or change. We can't change the assholes in the world, so stop worrying about them. I have nasty rumors going on about me too but Im not going to let that prevent me from being happy." Betty kissed her boyfriend on the cheek then trailed her fingers down his chest. "Now, lets eat. The food is getting cold." She handed Jughead a plate and a fork before taking one for herself.
Jughead had heard everything she said and it all made his heart warm. Every time he puts himself in a dark place, she pulls him back out. His heart ached because he loved her so much, and every time she has his back or is standing by his side in a situation, his love for her grows that much stronger. He took his plate and went to the couch to enjoy the food Betty made for them. "Mmm. This is delicious." He knew better than to speak when his mouth was full but he wanted his girlfriend to know that he appreciated her cooking. Hell, he appreciated everything about her. It made him want her in bed again. Being intimate with her was the only way he could drown out all the hateful words from their neighbours and classmates. Being intimate with Betty also allowed him to feel all the love they had for each other. Of course, Jug knew sex wasn't what he wanted their relationship to be built off of, but he wouldn't go cold turkey on it either. If it happened, it happened. If not, it wasn't a big deal for him.
After eating breakfast and cleaning up, Jughead was about to go take a shower with Betty when a loud knock sounded at the door. Jughead was a little nervous about opening it. It could be someone who wanted to hurt him, it could be Betty's mom about to rip Betty a new one about losing her virginity. That was a low possibility but Mrs. Cooper seemed to be good at finding things out when it came to Betty.
Jughead put on a pair of pants before going to open the door. It was chilly outside and being shirtless outside didn't make it any better. When Jughead stepped onto the little porch, he froze at what he saw. Men from the Serpents. Jug wasn't sure if all the members were here, or just a few, but it looked scary. His brain was starting to worry that they were here for trouble, but when the guy at the front of the group spoke, Jugheads worries faded.
"Jughead Jones. We heard that your father has been doing a good job at keeping our secrets. What an honorable man he is, and because of his loyalty to us, we'd like to offer you our thanks." A big burly man, probably in his 50's, was the one who spoke. It seemed like he was the leader of the group and Jughead kept his mouth shut while the man spoke, just in case he did or said something to piss them off. He didn't want to risk them harming Betty because of something stupid Jug said or did.
"On behalf of the Serpents, we'd like to offer you full protection. We will treat you like one of our own and won't allow any harm to come to you. We'd also like to offer you this." The man was handed a black leather jacket from someone in the crowd. He stepped forward and handed it to Jughead. "You can wear it if you like, but it's not an order."
Shock was spread over Jugheads face as he listened to these men, and when he grabbed the jacket, he knew in his gut that he shouldn't put it on. It was hard to resist though, especially with all these men watching him. It felt like there was some magical pull, as if their stares were making Jughead actually want to wear it. Without hesitation, Jughead slowly slipped the jacket on infront of the men. The oddest thing was this jacket fit him perfectly, as if they made it specifically for him. It was either a coincidence, or something fishy was going on in the Serpents.
Jughead zipped up the jacket and looked at the group, and as his eyes scanned the crowd he noticed that they all had looks of approval on their faces. It felt like Jughead found somewhere where he could be accepted. HIs eyes focused on the man at the front when he started to speak.
"If you decide you want to join us, you know where to find us. We are a big family and always have each others backs. Remember that." The man looked back at the crowd and gave them a nod, signaling for them all to leave and give Jughead room to think.
Jughead turned his head to the door of the trailer and saw Betty standing there, looking at him with big eyes that said she was questioning what he was doing with a Serpent jacket on. As Jug stepped back into the trailer, he slipped the jacket off and hung it up before going to the couch to sit down. "I hope you overheard them because this is going to be hard to explain otherwise."
"I heard them." Betty came over and stood near him, looking down at him. It was clear that something was bothering her and by the looks of it, she was ready to give Jughead a lecture about the Serpents. After taking a deep breath and letting it out, she sat down beside Jug and put her hands on his arm. "What are you going to do? I don't want you to join the Serpents, but, I know it's your choice to make."
Jug was surprised at her calmness about this. "Are you sure? You wouldn't be upset if I chose to join them?"
Betty shrugged. "I didn't say I wouldn't be upset. I wouldn't be happy, but, it's your choice. I mean, if you joined them, you could find out information. Find out things that your dad isn't telling anyone, and I am not suggesting you tell the cops the secrets, but, it would be nice for us to know at least. But, I wouldn't want to see you get into trouble." She bit her lip at the thought of Jughead being asked to do something by the Serpents that would get him in a similar situation as his father.
"Well, it's something I'll have to think about. That's for sure. As long as my decision won't cause you to leave me, because I want you by my side regardless."
A nod came from Betty as she rested her cheek on his shoulder, and after remaining like this for a moment, Jughead decided to pick Betty up and scoot her onto his lap so he could wrap his arms around her more comfortably. To join the Serpents or not to join them. That was a tough decision.