Chapter 4 - Mi casa es su casa

The clock on the wall informed Betty that it was almost four in the morning. She had been standing around sipping on the never ending supply of free drinks, never straying too far away from Jughead as he spoke to people and joined in on a game of pool.

Jughead reached into the ball return, retrieving the white ball before his eyes searched for Betty. He found her perched on a stool a few meters away, watching the game he was wining. Taking the few strides necessary to reach her, he held the white ball infront of her face.

"Blow." He instructed. She cocked an eyebrow curiously at him. "For good luck."

Without a change of her blank expression she continued to look up at him through her thick black lashes, as she blew gently onto the white ball. Jughead felt the cool rush of air brush his finger tips as he stared down at the blonde girl in front of him, wondering if she knew how seductively alluring she looked in the moment. He spun the white ball in his fingers sending her a wink before placing the ball onto the table. After a moment lining up his cue, he thrust it forward sinking two of his balls in the one shot.

Betty watched as Jughead raised his arms, cue in hand, rejoicing his win. She had no idea how he had this amount of energy at this ungodly hour. She was mustering all she had right now just to keep her eyes open.

After handing his cue off to another man wearing a matching serpent jacket, Jughead made his way over to Betty. He had seen her eyes close twice before her elbow would slip and she would startle herself awake, pretending nothing happened.

"I know I'm great not at making good life decisions." Jughead offered, "But passing out in a bar like this, is definitely not a good idea." Betty certainly didn't disagree with him, but just as it has been most of the night, she didn't have many options.

"It's still too early to go home." She protested.

"I know." He reached his hand out to her, "Come on." he instructed. She reluctantly took his hand and he led her to a stairwell at the back corner of the bar. She followed silently as they ascended the stairs. She had no idea where he could possibly be taking her and if she wasn't a little drunk and her inhabitations were fully intact she probably wouldn't be following him right now.

At the top of the stairs was a short hall that he lead her down, passing two closed doors before entering the third door at the opposite end of the hall, it lead to another stairwell. There was a single door at the top of the second stairwell. Jughead pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, unlocking the door before they entered.

The room was pitch black until Jughead hit the switch on the wall bathing the room in light. Betty took a few steps forward, taking in her surroundings. The walls were an exposed red brick and the roof beams were visible in the gabled ceiling taht were made of the same jarrah as the floorboards. She spotted a small kitchen to her right, a few dishes drying in the rack that rested on the sink. A small dining room was set behind the kitchen. To her left was a black leather sofa set pointed at a large flat screen television. On the opposite side of the room were two large glass doors that seemed to lead out to a balcony. The back corners of the room each held a room with closed doors, she wasn't too sure what was in them. By the studio apartment feel of the place she guessed a bedroom and a bathroom.

"Mi casa, es su casa." Jughead stated with an appropriate Spanish accent to the phase. She watched him as he stripped his jacket off and placed it on the back of one of the chairs surrounding the round dining table.

"You live here?" Betty asked, curiously. From the front of the bar you would never have guessed you'd find this apartment above. It had a shabby chic feel, it was aged but neat and nicely furnished with modern pieces.

"Sure do" He said heading towards the larger room in the back right corner. "Come on, Betts."

She stepped into the room behind him, as she guessed it was a bedroom. Under a large window on the opposite side of the room was a king sized bed with black metal frame, draped in a plain grey quilt. Beside the door was a dark wood dresser that matched the bookshelf that sat beside it.

Jughead went to the dresser pulling out some pieces of fabric, as he was about to shut the draw he looked over Betty. As attractive as she looked in the tight outfit, she didn't look overly comfortable.

"Did you want something more comfortable to sleep in?" He asked her. She was almost surprised he hadn't made a smartass comment of some kind, before he added with a grin, "Unless you prefer to sleep naked."

That fact that she did indeed usually sleep naked was not a fact she felt Jughead needed to know. She looked over to the bed before looking back at him. "I'm not going to sleep with you, Jughead." He chuckled, retrieving a shirt from the dresser throwing it at Betty.

"Well, you're welcome to sleep on the couch. But trust me; been there and done that, never doing it again." He said, slipping past her towards the room in the opposite corner. She instinctively followed him, like she had been doing all night. As his hand gripped the door handle he looked over at her following him, a mischievous smirk gracing his split lip. She now wondered if all his smirking was hurting his beaten face.

"Won't sleep innocently beside me, but all in for sharing a shower?" He asked mockingly. It was only then that she gauged what he was actually doing, her eyes bulged and she blushed. She quickly turned on her heel and headed over the back of the room where the glass doors stood, hearing the echo of his chuckles as he closed himself in the bathroom.

The sky was no longer black as she opened the large door leading out to a balcony. The sun was beginning to reach its way over the horizon, radiating a yellow glow on the dark blue sky. Betty took a seat in one of the two wicker chairs that faced the timber fencing across the front of the balcony. The only other thing on the balcony was a matching wicker table adorned by an ashtray.

From her position on the balcony she would swear that she could see the whole south side of Riverdale, if she strained her eyes far enough, she could see the outline of the north side too. Treetops spanned in the distance, split in the middle by Sweetwater River.

'Beautiful' was never a word Betty ever thought she would use to describe Southside, but from the balcony she currently occupied; she couldn't see the finer and off putting aspects of Southside - it truly looked beautiful.

"The views pretty great up here." Jughead's voice sounded behind her, she jumped slightly at his sudden appearance, not looking away from the horizon as the sun began to rise. She heard the distinct sound of a lighter and even the crackle of the burning cigarette as he inhaled. It was so peacefully quiet up here, she could faintly hear the sound of birds chirping. You couldn't hear the music she knew was playing in the bar below and only the faintest hint of voices.

Betty's eyes widened as Jughead walked past her to take a seat in the free chair on the other side of the small table. Her eyes followed him as dropped his lighter on the table before taking a seat in the chair beside her. He wore only a pair of flannel pyjama pants, his toned chest bare.

It was almost as if a completely different person now sitting in the chair next to her. The blood and dirt had been cleared away from his face. His right eye was a bit swollen, he had a large gash just above his right eyebrow and a nasty split in his swollen lip; all of this didn't make much of an impact on how blatantly attractive he was. His tussled wet hair dripped down his shoulders, now rid of the grey crowned beanie he had worn previously. One of the most eye catching features she had only just now discovered was the stunning and intricate tattoo's that spanned his arms. His entire left arm, reaching from his wrists to his shoulder was painted in a mesh of designs. On his left arm was a vibrant and realistic green snake that coiled around his left upper arm, the snakes head placed just below his collar bone, and the tip of its tail stopping at his elbow.

She watched as his muscles moved under the smooth skin of his arm as he guided his cigarette to his lips.

"You know," He said, snapping her out of her gaze, looking to his face. He had been looking out over the horizon, only now sliding his gaze to Betty in the corner of his eye. "For someone who blatantly shuts me down every time I open my mouth. You check me out a lot." He teased, looking back to the sunrise, and grinning as he took a drag of his cigarette.

At first she wasn't sure how to respond to that, he wasn't wrong, especially just now. "You're... an intriguing person Jughead Jones." He smiled down at the floor as he blew out the smoke trapped in his mouth.

"How so?" He asked, looking back out to the sunrise, Betty's eyes followed his gaze to see the sun peaking over the hills in the distance.

"You're not exactly what I expected a serpent to be like." She admitted, pulling her feet onto the chair wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her chin on them.

"How so?" he repeated, without looking at him she heard the smirk in his voice.

"You're not quite as terrifying and mean as I expected."

"I can be pretty scary and I can definitely be a dick when needed or when provoked."

"Then why are you nice to me?" She asked, finally looking back over to him. He continued to look out at the rising run as he brushed the side of his nose with his thumb.

"No reason not to be. You helped me out last night." His eyes locked onto hers. She nodded slowly, looking away from his entrancing gaze. A yawn overcame her, she was truly exhausted. He stood up as he snuffed his cigarette in the ashtray. Betty took that as her cue to head back inside. The sun had risen now, it was well beyond time to get to sleep. It was about five o'clock now, still too early to think about going home.

Jughead closed the door behind him as they stepped back into his apartment. Betty's eyes set onto the sofa, admittedly it didn't look half as appetising as the large bed had.

"I will keep to my side of the bed." Jughead said from beside her, holding up three fingers in a salute. "Scouts honor." He added with a smile. She looked at him sceptically before her mouth pulled into a tight lipped smile. She looked down to the shirt she still held in her hand, honestly she didn't want to sleep in her tight jeans, what sane person would.

"Okay, but I'm holding you to that." She said, detouring to the bathroom to change. As soon as she stepped into the bathroom she was hit with the same scent Jughead gave off after his shower; a masculine 'axe body spray' kind of smell.

She stripped down to her underwear pulling the shirt over her head. The shirt smelt like basic laundry detergent, crisp and clean. It was a grey shirt with a faded black 'S' on the front, it was large enough to cover all the bits that needed covering. She let her hair loose, letting the elastic band sit on her wrist like a bracelet. Gathering up her clothes she headed back over to the bedroom. She placed her clothes on top of his dresser before turning to see him laying on his back, propped up on his elbows, staring her down with raised eyebrows.

"I don't think I thought this through when I promised to behave." His words didn't hold the usual teasing tone and the hunger flaming in his eyes made betty feel a little exposed.

"You will behave, Mr. Jones." She ordered, but her tone was light. He groaned, flopping back onto the bed. She pulled up the blankets, hopping under them and rolled on her side to face Jughead. He opened one eye to peak at her, she cocked an eyebrow.

"You can't keep making those comments and giving me those sexy looks and then insist I behave. It's just not fair." He whined.

"I'm not doing anything sexy." She protested, a smile playing on her lips. Honestly she wasn't, though it was rather entertaining to watch this man squirm.

"Quit it." He reprimanded.

"Sorry." She whispered in her sexiest voice, wearing her most seductive expression before sending him a wink and rolling over to face away from him.

"Jesus fucking Christ, woman." He growled, shifting behind her. She had a smile spread across her face as she tried not to snicker.

"Sweet dreams, Jug." She responded before her exhaustion quickly consumed her, her eyes fluttering shut. She heard his light snicker.

"Sweet dreams, gorgeous."

I personally like this chapter, makes me all giggly and excited to write more stories involving the lush king sized bed... and probably a few other choice locations in the apartment and just other places in general.

I hope you're as excited about where this story will go as I am ;)

- Kayla