A/N: this one is based off of Hannah's prompt. Its been done a few times before, so I'm going to try and throw in my own twist. Takes place after episode 11, but without the sheriff finding anything and thus sending FP to jail. Jughead has still run away, but he's upset at the betrayal of his friends, not because he held out so much hope for his dad.
He ran straight home without stopping. He was red in the face and out of breath when his dad looked over from the television.
"You're home early, what happened?" He flipped the TV off, noticing how upset his boy was. "Where's Betty?"
"You were wrong about her, dad. I'm sorry I hesitated earlier. You were right. Riverdale is no place for us Joneses. I'm ready to leave it all behind and move to Toledo."
"Jug, tell me what happened. You broke up with Betty?"
"Dad, did you notice anything weird or out of place when you got home?"
"Not especially, why?"
"Archie and Veronica broke in here while we were having dinner at the Coopers' to see if there was any incriminating evidence to prove you were involved in the murder."
"Wow, I don't even know what to say except- how does Betty tie into this again?"
"She knew her Mom only invited us over to investigate and you never told me. She let me believe things were fine when she knew her mom wanted to investigate you. I believed you when you said you weren't involved and I thought she believed in me but her betrayal hurts most of all." He felt like screaming and throwing things around but this was his home, for now, and he didn't want to do that to his dad. "When is the soonest we can leave?" His anger dissipated to a simmer.
"A week, but Jug, I'm not gonna let you leave without talking this through with Betty. At the very least, hear her out. Remember last time? I'm sure you'll be glad you did." FP patted his son on the back and walked him back to the door. "I'll take you to a movie tomorrow if I'm wrong but if I had to guess, I'd say she's probably at Pop's Chocklit Shoppe. Come home after, but no chickening out, ya hear?"
He slowly walked with his hands in his pockets over to his favourite eating establishment, occasionally kicking a rock along the way. His father must have been a prophet or something, because low and behold, Betty was sitting at their usually table nursing a milkshake and a broken heart. Her whole body was shuddering as she cried. She didn't even hear the sound of him coming in nor sliding into the other side of the booth.
"Betty, what are you doing here?" She was a mess. Still in her gown, but her shoes were mangled, her hair was a mess, and her makeup was a disaster from all the crying.
"I went looking for you but then I got scared. Mom tried to say it was for the best but this whole thing is all her fault. We were doing just fine on our own, and she told me it was just a dinner and your dad's involvement with the crime probably wouldn't even come up. I swear I didn't even know about Veronica and Archie until I saw them arrive late to the dance and talking with my mother. I don't even want to be around her right now, I feel so sick. I'm sorry, Jughead, I'm sorry! You're family to me, and if I knew my actions would have such terrible consequences then I never would have done them. I just wanted you to be happy because I love you, Juggie. You're more my family than she is right now."
He moved from sitting across from her, interrogation-style, to sitting beside her and pulling her into a tight hug as she cried into his chest.
"Please don't leave me here, not with them."
"Oh Betty, how could I now when you've told me you love me and consider me family? Betts, I was hard on you because I felt a deep sense of betrayal. Archie is like my brother and I have conflicting feelings about Veronica, but I've bore my soul to you, so even though your part in these events was much smaller, it cut so much deeper. I now realize that you were just being Betty, trying so hard to please everyone. You could have been involved, but you fought against it as hard as you could and I love you for that. I'm afraid I'm still going to Toledo, though. I need my family to be whole again."
She gripped his shirt tighter and cried even harder. He pulled her off and looked her in the eye.
"Betty, come with us, with me. My dad likes you and I'm sure Jellybean would love having another girl in the house. There won't be any stupid friends or drama, just you and me. What do you say?"
She sniffles up at him. "I love your family and I miss Jellybean but I'm just a minor and my mother would never allow it. I had to threaten her just to leave the house tonight."
Jughead paused for a minute and fished something out of his pocket. It was a fairly large washer he had in his pocket from his brief stint as a construction worker.
"Marry me, Betty. I know this isn't romantic or ideal, and we'll be stuck here for a week while things get finalized, but your mom won't have any legal authority over to stop you. You don't have to if you don't want to, but I don't want to leave this one good thing behind." She held out her hand and he slid the washer on. It was loose, but it was basically just a place holder.
"My dad's actually an officiant. I guess not a lot of priests want to marry gang members these days," he laughed nervously.
She simply nodded and so they paid the bill and left back to Sunnyside.
He was wearing his formal jacket and she was wearing that same silver dress, though her hair was redone and her feet were bare. They said their vows under some Christmas lights they had fished out from storage and used some heirloom rings Jughead has inherited from his grandparents, and FP pronounced them "son and daughter-in-law". It was a bit unconventional, but it suited them just fine. They were weird, and Jughead even let Betty push his hat off and tangle her hands through his hair as he kissed the bride.
"I'm sorry this is the wedding you got. You deserve so much more. Maybe some day we can do this right and renew our vows" he breathed as they swayed to the invisible music.
She smiled up at him. "No, it's perfect just like this. Just you and me, that's all I need."
"Well if that's all it takes," he smiled at her, "but it just occurred to me, Mrs Jones, that you'll be needing a nickname." He twirled her around. "It's a Jones thing."
She giggled.
"I don't have an interesting first name like you to replace with a nickname. I just got Betty, short for Elizabeth, but you can tell me anything you want, Mr Jones."
The honeymoon weekend went by with a whirl. They watched movies and listened to Records's and Jughead even called his mom so that they could discuss the future. It was bliss, but weekends don't last forever and soon enough they were waking up to go to school.
Betty went to the front office with all the documentation to change her name first thing in the morning. They were in such a good mood that they almost forgot that they weren't speaking to Archie or Veronica, that is until they showed up.
The couple promptly walked past them and shouted a hello at Kevin, the remaining friend from their group. Betty frowned a bit at the thought of leaving Kevin behind but she decided she would make the most of their last week together. It wouldn't be that much different from when she didn't see her for her summer internship in LA.
She texted "husband" during class to let him know she wanted to break the news to Kevin at lunch hour. When lunch finally came around, the couple led Kevin away to the secluded part of the picnic tables outside, away from prying eyes. Archie and Veronica sat 2 tables over, staring the whole time but they were left ignored.
"Kevin, we have something to tell you, we're-"
"Betty Jones to the office please, you have a visitor." Betty turned a bright red and Jughead nervously laughed.
"Surprise, we got married the other night. Sorry you weren't invited Kevin, but it was a spur of the moment deal. We can give you more details later. Better see whose waiting in the office." Archie's jaw dropped and Veronica's eyes went wide.
The three walked into the office to find a fuming Alice followed by an annoyed Hal.
"I came here to look for you and make sure you were okay since you ignored my calls all weekend and I couldn't find you anywhere and THIS is how your own mother finds out you got married behind her back?!"
"I told you I love Jughead, and I told you he was my family. We're moving to Toledo together, and legally you can't really stop us."
Mrs Cooper glared but then her eyes softened when she looked down at Jughead and sighed. "I don't like this but at least it's not Archie. You better get Polly home before you leave and promise to visit as often you can. I know it's only a 2 hour train ride away." Alice pulled Betty, then making Jughead join in with her free arm.
"Take care of my baby girl," said Hal. It was a lot easier for him since he wasn't with his family anyways.
By the end of the week, Kevin had talked the two into letting him throw them a not-so-surprise wedding reception/going away party. Begrudgingly, the two even let their ex friends come, though the affair was crashed by the whole school anyways.
Chuck had inappropriately laughed and told Jughead that Betty's Crazy was his responsibility now. Cheryl rolled her eyes, not liking how the spotlight was away from her. Reggie joked that it was a shame Betty didn't have a bachelorette party he could have crashed. Dilton gave them a self-help book on marriage. Trev Brown asked for a dance. Archie wrote a song. Veronica had a fancy cake flown in from New York. Kevin cried and held on a little longer. Finally, it was Polly's turn.
"I promise to solve this case for us Betty." She then turned to Jughead. "Before the baby shower, I asked if Betty would be the godmother. Now that you're my brother-in-law, would you like to be the godfather?"
His mind was instantly filled with scenes from Coppola's cult classic film starring Marlon Brando. "Of course, I would like nothing more," he spoke with a thick Italian accent, causing everyone to break out into a fit of laughs. "What? Don Jughead not working for you?" They partied until the break of dawn and then the two packed up the rest of their belongings in FP's truck as they set off on their new journey as a family.
The End.
Prompt:
