Wow. Sorry it took me forever to write something again. It seems I had a bit of a writer's block. Sorry! :(
This one is inspired by one of the spoilers for this week's episode. I don't want to say what it's about in case some people don't like spoilers so basically Jughead wants to ask Betty somewhere, but he's having a hard time figuring out how.
Hope you enjoy!
Jughead couldn't stop staring. The sight before him pushing him forward while simultaneously backing him in a corner, absolutely scared to death.
Betty Cooper was laying on her bed, completely in her own universe, as she scribbled words in her diary. The pen switching from the pages to her mouth as she formulated her thoughts, none the wiser to his current predicament.
It really shouldn't be that difficult to ask her out. They had established long ago that they were "together", maybe not going as far as calling each other boyfriend/girlfriend, but Jughead felt what they had was beyond titles. It's not like she didn't want to hang out with him exclusively. They were doing that right now for christ's sake! It shouldn't be this hard to simply ask her to the movies with him.
They had done that so many times together, even before this new type of relationship bloomed. He just had to ask her to the movies. Nothing crazy or out there. And it's not like she would say no...and if she did it was just to postpone it because of some other prior engagement. But he knew her schedule, (not that he was some kind of creepy stalker!) so he knew she was free this Friday night. She might not be if he doesn't sack up and ask her though.
He continued gazing at the beautiful creature before him. It's just Betty...he would say to himself. Repeating the silent mantra to himself in hopes of gaining the nerve to ask her.
He sighed deeply, still confused and frustrated as to why this was so difficult for him. Sure he'd never asked someone out on a date before, but this was Betty and he already knew that she liked him (for whatever reason) very much.
The sound seemed to catch the attention of the far-away blonde. She looked at him with worried eyes, knowing that the sigh meant something was weighing heavily on his mind.
"Hey Juggie, is everything ok?" she asked delicately, concern evident in her eyes.
"Huh? Wh-what do you mean? There's a killer on the loose still and we haven't figured it out yet." He stammered as he looked away. He could never lie to her, even if he had something prepared, and she caught him completely off guard.
"You sure? You seem a bit...out of it…" she began slowly, cautiously, ever aware that the slightest inclination of being cornered shuts him down. "You know you can talk to me about whatever's bothering you, right?"
He sighed again as he rubbed his hands over his face. Now he was making her worried over something so silly.
"Yea Betts, I know." he said offering the best smile he could muster. "I've uh...just been thinking about something is all."
He continued to avoid her eyes and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. The act didn't fool Betty. She knew something was bothering him, and she suspected it had something to do with her since he was being so obtuse. She decided that if she wanted answers, she couldn't be delicate any longer.
"Weeell, even if it's something to do with me. I promise I won't judge you and listen to you completely, even if it may upset me…"
"No!" he almost shouted panicked at the suggestion as his arms shot out as if to physically stop the idea from forming. "No," he repeated again, much more calmly, "it's nothing like that. I mean it does have to do with you, with us" he corrected.
"Us?" she questioned. Now she was really confused.
"Yeah...us…" he started again, not sure where to take this. For someone so great with words on paper, he absolute garbage in person.
"Um...well you know with...what we are now…" he gestured towards each other, "with...what we've done…"
"You mean being a couple?" she interrupted the trainwreck that was Jughead expressing his feelings.
"Yes! Right...with us being that, I was thinking that maybe we should do other things that...people like that do…"
I sound like an idiot... he thought bitterly.
Betty managed to stifle her giggle at watching him struggle to get his thoughts out. She decided to mess with him just a little bit.
"Juggie, I really do like you, but I don't know if I'm ready for sex yet." She said it so seriously that even she was impressed with her performance. She should have won an Oscar for that one.
Jughead's mind went completely blank. Any thoughts, ideas, words were gone. All he wanted to do was take her out to a movie and she's thinking about...other couple things. He thinks he may have had a stroke, or maybe she did? That would be the only logical explanation for jumping that far ahead of the gun. Not that the thought never crossed his mind, but holy hell. He didn't actually plan on acting on his urges any time soon.
He continued to stare blankly at her until she couldn't hold it in anymore and just started laughing. The sound of laughter seemingly releasing him from his daze, he looked back at the blonde smiling at her mirth. She was in hysterics, holding her gut as if they would actually fall out if she wasn't holding them in. Her genuine laughter music to his ears and bringing them both back into their comfortable bubble.
"I'm sorry Juggie, it was just too good to pass up" she said with a bright smile as her laughter curbed. Wiping away the happy tears and she asked again, "So what's really on your mind?"
He chuckled at her shenanigans. Amazed, once again, at how she always found a way to make him feel at ease.
"That" he began as he raised his eyebrow at her, "was definitely not what I was concerning myself over. I actually was thinking something a bit more PG, maybe PG-13 the most."
She raised her own eyebrow at the statement. "Depending on what exactly?"
"Well...like…" he gulped as he forced himself to continue, "what kind of movie you'd like to see. With me. Alone. Together." He continued to add, trying in vain to not seem so nervous.
"You mean like a date?" She asked as her eyes sparkled.
"Yea...I mean that's what people like us do, right?" The question sounding more like he was asking himself rather than her.
"Yes! Definitely! People like us would definitely go on dates!"
She was beaming at the thought of a date with Jughead, her knees finding their way to edge of her bed as she just stared at him with a goofy grin. They hung out together all the time, but it was always having something to do with school, their own family drama, or trying to solve the murder. The thought of the two of them alone together in a dark movie theater was so...inviting. So...normal, that she couldn't think of a better way to spend her Friday night.
"Great...that's good. Um...so it's a...date?" He questioned, the procedures of courting still eluding him.
She giggled at his apprehension to using the word 'date'.
"Yea Jug, I'd love to go on a date with you"
She said it so earnestly that Jughead's shoulders immediately relaxed as he slumped into his chair. She walked over to him and took a seat on her desk as she played with his curl that never seemed to want to stay in his trademark beanie.
"Is that what had you all worked up this afternoon?"
He breathed out a chuckle, "Yea. Stupid right?"
"Well, maybe a little" she said with a wink, "since you already knew what the answer would be."
"I think that's what bothered me the most. That I knew what you would say and still being unable to ask." He paused for a moment before adding, "Dating is weird" with another eye roll.
"Yea, only when it comes to dating you though."
Before he could even respond, she pecked him on the lips and ran out of her room cackling like a mad-woman. He shook his head with a laugh. It was nice seeing her be so carefree again. With his wits about him, he made his way over to his lovely partner with a mischievous smile on his face to show her just how weird he could be.
Sorry again for taking so long to write another one-shot, but I'm so grateful to all the nice comments everyone has! It's definitely been awesome to read your kind words so thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
As usual, please leave a comment or send me a message if you have any ideas you'd like to read about or just to provide feedback!
