NEW CHAPTER IS HERE ! Sorry for a bit of waiting, hope you enjoy!

I don't own anything.


Jughead strode through the front doors of Riverdale High, a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. Last night had – against all odds – been really fun. Who knew you could have fun with something as simple and mundane as homework? He sure didn't, but boy was he wrong.

A hand was placed on his shoulder, turning his attention to Archie. "Hey man, what girl did you bang lastnight?" Jughead quirked an eyebrow, smile still displayed proudly on his lips. "I just ask cause I haven't seen you smile this much since you lost your virginity to that Serenity chick in 8th grade."

Jughead just chuckled. "Her name was Sabrina, thank you." Archie just shrugged, falling in step beside him. "And I'm just in a good mood. Had a good night."

Archie quirked a brow, but stayed silent.

"Hey guys, whats up?" Joaquin chimed in, coming to walk on the other side of Jughead. He just grunted in response, while Archie went into full details about his night. Jughead only half payed attention, far too preoccupied with reminiscing.


Not much was said during the drive to Pops – a few more snide comments at the hands of Jughead, but all fun and games. Betty still seemed to have a snobby stick shoved up her butt, but at least her blushing was making her tolerable.

Hell, maybe even cute.

But don't tell her that.

They arrived at the diner, finding a quiet-ish booth in the back. A waitress came by quickly, jotting down their orders of milkshakes and fries, before scurrying off. They sat adjacent from one another, an awkward silence falling upon them.

Jughead cleared his throat, opening his mouth but Betty cuts him off hastily.

"Look. I don't know what your plan for tonight was, but I'm here to do my work." She quirked an eyebrow, daring him to contest her. When he stayed silent, she nodded slightly. "Good, now don't talk to me."

Jughead laughed, watching her.

Betty pulled her stuff out, placing a notebook gently on the table in front of her, along with a few pencils and pens. Placing her phone face down, she opens her book and begins writing seemingly random stuff down. Her pencil moves across the page with ease, each letter she writes is so precise, every bit of her writing is, well perfect. She's humming a simple tune, he can't quite figure out what song it is, but its catchy.

He's brought out of his reverie by the waitress. She places the milkshakes on the table, and the fries beside them. She lingers a little, making small talk with Jughead.

"Hey Jughead, you didn't call me after our time together." She winked. Jughead internally shuddered.

"Uh, hey-" he cut off, squinting at her name tag, realizing she didn't actually have one on. "-hi. Yeah, sorry about that. Kinda." He shrugged, a smug smirk on his lips. Betty scoffed from across the table, not looking up from her school work.

"It was fun. We should do it again sometime." She winked, pursing her lips to blow an air kiss.

This time Jughead does shudder. The waitress frowns, opening her mouth. Jughead cuts her off. "Sure. I'll get your name and number when I leave." He turned back to Betty. The waitress huffs, storming off with the soft clicking of her heels.

Betty looks up at him, something dark playing in her green eyes. "You're disgusting." Is all she says, looking back down.

An hour passed and she still didn't look up. His leg was bouncing sporadically, impatience riding his every nerve. With Betty doing all the work, all he could do was pick at his half eaten basket of fries – it's the second one he got – and watch her. He could tell she was uncomfortable with his staring, but with nothing else to do, and her shutting down every bit of conversation he tried to start, what else was he supposed to do?

She finally looks up, sighing. He shifts a little in seat, waiting expentantly. She quirked a brow, watching him.

"How is it going?" He finally asks, he himself getting uncomfortable with the silence.

She just blinks.

Sighing, Jughead leans forward, smirking. "How about we have a little bet?" She crosses her arms over her chest. He takes it as a sign to continue. "If I can make you laugh, you have to go out with me. Just once." Surprise crosses her face, her arms dropping to her sides. "Not prom. Just a date. Like what we're doing right now, just without the homework." He jutted his chin at her open notebook.

Finally Betty opens her mouth to talk, but closes it quickly. "On one condition." He just nods, waiting. "It has to be a genuine laugh, and the date has to be of my choosing. Where we go, what we do-" He winked at her, she scoffs in disgust at his gesture, "- no not that. EW."

Jughead nods, laughing. "I agree to your terms, M'lady." He winks, she scoffs. "How about we play 21 questions?" He intrigued, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Fine. You can go first." She waves her hand, looking down at her work.

He thinks for a few moments, before opening his mouth. "We'll start easy – whats your passion?"

Betty's taken aback for a second, before leaning back in the booth and sighing. "Writing." Jughead doesn't feign the shock that crosses his face. Betty rolls her eyes at his reaction. "I want to be a journalist, you egghead."

He quirked a brow at her choice of words. "Aren't journalists supposed to have sophisticated vocabularies?"

"Oh shut up. It's my turn." He just smirks, waiting. "Uh, why are you a Serpent?"

His body goes timid at the question, hands clenching into fists under the table. He swallows hard, suddenly boiling in his leather, flannel, undershirt layers. "It's uh – a uh family business." He musters out, mouth dry. He doesn't look up at her, just watches his hands wring together in his lap.

Her mouth shapes into an 'o' as realization dawns on her. "Sorry."

He waves her off. "It's fine. Most people say I joined it after I punched someone, I think." He shrugs.

"Actually, it's because you killed a man once." She says matter of factly. His lips curve upward in a smug smirk as her face tinges with red, embarrassment kicking in. "Not that I know the rumors, or anything like that!" She's waving her hands in front of her, almost slapping him across the face more than once.

He's laughing now, watching her flustered state. "Had I known any better, Betty Cooper, I'd say you've been keeping tabs on me." He winked at her once more, chuckling at her deepening blush.

"It's your turn."

He sighs happily, leaning back against the booth. "Why did you reject my request to take you to prom?" It was a genuine question, though he would never indulge the information to Archie or Joaquin.

She blanks, looking down. "Because there has to be something – anything – that gives you-" she points a finger at his chest "-a reason to ask me-" points her fingers at her own chest "-to that antiquated mating ritual."

"Antler what?"

She groans impatiently, rolling her eyes. "Nevermind!" She crosses her arms over her chest defiantly, looking away with a huff.

He just stares at her. Finally piping up, he says "Why does there have to be a reason other than me wanting to go with you?"

"Because you're a Serpent!" She tosses her hands up disbelief. "You haven't said a word to be in over 9 years Jughead. Why would you suddenly want to be my date for the stupid prom?"

He blanks. "I figured you didn't remember that part.." He trails off, looking away.

She just sighs, looking down. "I'm sorry, it's just-" she points to him "-I just don't see a reason to say yes."

He plays with his fingers for a few more seconds before an idea courses through his veins. Looking up abruptly, he just smiles. "But that isn't a no." He states coolly, a smug smirk tugging the corners of his lips up.

She rolls her eyes again, a ghost of a smile on her luscious lips. "Yeah, I guess you're right," is all she replies, leaning her cheek on her hand, playing with her pencil idly. "My turn?" She asks, not looking up when he nods. "What's your favourite colour?"

He deadpans. "How positively monotonous of you Ms Cooper." She looks up his words, the smile on her lips gaining more mirth. She opens her mouth to retort when he cuts her off. "Green." She nods slightly, looking away to cover the quickly reddening skin on her cheeks. He's smiling like a madman now, all charisma and comfort. "My turn." It isn't a question, but Betty nods. "Do you like dogs?"

Betty all but makes noise, her face contorting into such a wide array of astonishment, mild disbelief, and is that offense? Is she offended by a simple question? She opens her mouth, then closes it. Repeating this a few times before running a hand over her face and groaning loudly. "Of fucking course I love dogs! Who doesn't?" It doesn't sound like a question, at least one that isn't rhetorical, but he just shrugs, still smiling at her reaction. "Why?"

"I have a dog, I was just wondering if you'd like him or not." He plays it off, watching her under his lashes as he looks down at his fingers.

Her hands slap the table aggressively, startling him. "I have to meet him."

Jughead smiles wide, winking at her. "I see how it is, you don't want me just my dog." He feigns hurt, placing a hand over his heart.

Betty smiles wide, watching his acting. "Girls got needs Jug, and I need to love every dog on this planet." She's sitting up straighter, a proud smile on her face.

He just tugs at his shirt more, falsely weeping unshed tears. "My heart. It's broken. You've done me in Coop, I'm dead now." He's squirming in the booth, thrashing his limbs back in forth in an odd display of a tantrum.

Then he's listening to one of the purest sounds in the world. Halting his movements, he moves a finger from his eye just enough to peek through and see a wonder in the booth across from him.

She's laughing.

Not like, a chuckle, or those cheap giggles some girls find cute to do, but an actual laugh. Her small shoulders are bouncing up and down, her hand covering her mouth to stifle the noise coming from within, all the while her eyes are closed tight, tears pooling at the corners.

He sits up proudly, waiting patiently for her laughing fit to subside. After a few minutes, Betty pulls her hand away from her mouth, rubbing the pools around her eyes quickly. Her face is still bright red, her eyes a twinkle of something new. He's watching her, silent as a mouse.

When she's done rearranging herself, she looks up at him, confusion on her face. "What?"

He smiles wide. "I win."

She opens her mouth to no doubt ask what he means when it dawns on her. "Oh shit."

He laughs at her words, leaning forward. "Now I get to take you on a real date Betty Cooper." She just bites her lip, nodding behind the flush on her face.

They spent another 2 hours at Pops after that, chatting about anything and everything. Turns out, Betty isn't a complete and total man hater as people thought. She also really likes animals – mostly dogs of course. It was around 10pm when Jughead pulled up in front of her house, turning the key to cut the ignition and shift to look at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He winks.

Groaning, Betty just waves and gets out, bustling up the stairs quickly before retreating behind the door.

Jughead didn't really know why, but that night he dreamt of gold and green, smiling the entire time.


"YO JUGHEAD!" Archie's voice brought him back to reality, a pale hand waving furiously in front of his eyes. Shaking his head, Jughead just sighs.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?" A flash of hurt crossed Archie's freckled face before quickly diminishing. "I asked if you got any leads with the Cooper girl."

Jughead just shrugged. "I'm working on it." Archie smirks, winking at him before throwing his arm over Joaquin's shoulder.

"He totally banged Betty."

Jughead just groaned. "Sure Arch, whatever you think man."