Chapter 9: Paradise Lost
Jughead always knew the dream he was living currently would end. He just wasn't living the sort of life that allowed for a boy from the wrong side of the tracks to love the beautiful, perfect girl next door. He just didn't think the dream would be shattered so violently or so miserably. In a small way, he was fortunate. It didn't all shatter at once. It happened in stages. The first being when Alice Cooper, contrary to what she'd told her daughter barged in to Betty's room first thing in the morning to find the two of them in bed, fast asleep with Jughead's arms wrapped around her.
"Elizabeth Cooper! What the hell is going on here?" Alice shouted, immediately slamming both Jughead and Betty back into the world of the living.
They both shot bolt upright in bed, Jughead with a hiss of pain at the pull on his back.
"It's not what you think Mom," Betty said, getting out of bed and grabbing her robe.
Jughead's brain snapped forcefully into gear and he got out of bed too. "It is kinda what you think," he said with a wince. He stepped forward to get his flannel shirt but Alice got in his way. He took a step back when he saw how furious she looked.
"Oh no, you can stop right there and tell me what the hell is going on?" Alice demanded.
"I...uh..." Jughead began taking another step backwards and gasping as his back hit the bedroom wall.
"Nothing at all to say for yourself?"
"Mom please!"
"Quiet Betty, I'll get to you next." Alice turned back to Jughead who, if Betty was being completely honest, looked absolutely terrified. "You. You come into my house. And sleep in my daughter's bed. Who the hell do you think you are?" Alice said. She looked up to the heavens and raised a hand to her mouth in disgust. She didn't notice Jughead flinch at her movement but Betty did. "How dare you. How dare you!" Alice shouted, taking another step forward. Jughead could hear his heart thumping in his ears and he crumpled to the floor as she continued. "I ought to ring your father! In fact I ought to belt you right here and now!"
It was almost like she'd spoken the magic words. They'd definitely had an immediate impact. Jughead, already on the floor, had brought his knees up and covered his head with his arms, his injured, marked back facing Alice who gasped when she saw the damage already inflicted.
"Oh my god Juggie!" Betty ran over to him and fell to her knees next to him. He was shaking. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he flinched violently away from his touch. "It's just me, you're okay, I promise."
"I'm sorry, please tell her I'm sorry," Jughead whispered as his shallow breaths came quicker and quicker, making him think he was on the verge of a panic attack or something.
"You don't have anything to be sorry about," Betty said. "Wait here, I'll be right back." She stood up and stared down her mother.
"I didn't mean...I didn't know - what the hell happened to him?" Alice stammered, for once at a loss for words.
"Okay, come on," Betty said, "give him a minute." She grabbed her Mom's hand and dragged her out of her bedroom, shutting the door behind them. She hated leaving Jughead alone while he was literally cowering in the corner of her room practically having a panic attack but she needed to talk to her mother. "It's not my place to tell you exactly what's going on," she said.
"Who did that to him?" Alice questioned.
"I can't tell you. If he wants you to know, he'll tell you himself," Betty said, her hands forming fists. It was next to impossible to keep the details from her mother, from someone who could actually do something for Jughead. But she'd promised him.
"Did FP do that to him?"
"Mom I can't tell you."
"Was it FP? Just tell me and I'll have that bastard locked up in no time."
"Please, just stop asking. He needed somewhere to stay last night. I didn't mean to keep it from you, I just...well he got here at midnight. I wasn't about to wake you up and see if we could make up the guest room."
Alice was silent for a few moments, mulling over what Betty had said. Then she asked "Why does he need somewhere to stay?"
"FP kicked him out," Betty replied. Jughead hadn't asked her to keep that secret.
"Oh my goodness," Alice breathed. "Okay, look, he can stay here today and tonight but tomorrow I'm calling FP and we'll"-
"Please don't call him."
Alice and Betty spun around to see Jughead in the hallway standing in the doorway to Betty's room. He was still shaking somewhat, Betty could see the trembling in his fingers as he placed a hand on the wall to steady himself. His eyes were glassy and his voice was soft but it was strong.
"Please don't. I'll find somewhere else to stay from tomorrow, I promise."
"Jughead, he's your father," Alice started, "he'll want to know where you're"-
"He won't. And he doesn't have to. Not right now, alright? Please don't call him. I'll leave right now if it means you won't call him," Jughead all but begged.
Alice sighed and looked from her daughter to Jughead Jones standing in the hallway. "Okay, fine, I won't call him. You don't have to leave right now."
Betty could literally see the weight fall from Jughead's shoulders at her mother's words.
"Thank you Mrs Cooper," he said in a shaky voice.
"Damnit," Alice breathed. She turned to her daughter. "Betty, I need to go to the Register's office and do a whole heap of research on the Blossoms today. I need to take my mind off of Polly, let the police search for her. Will you two be alright here for the day?"
"We'll be fine Mom," Betty reassured.
"Alright, well...call me if anything happens."
"We will."
And with that, Alice took off down the hall, away from the tragic soap opera that her daughter's life was turning into. Betty turned back to Jughead. He looked like he'd had the energy zapped from him as he leaned heavily against the wall. Betty took his hand which was still trembled slightly and tugged him back towards the bedroom, closing the door behind them. Silently they walked back to Betty's bed and climbed on, Jughead inhaling sharply when his raw back touched the pillows.
"Are you alright?" Betty asked, grasping his hand in her's and stroking it gently. "How does your back feel?"
"It's going to be sore for a while," Jughead replied despondently.
"How long?"
"A few weeks usually, if nothing else happens," Jughead said softly.
"I'm so...so angry that I never realised it before," Betty said.
"Angry?" Jughead echoed, a stab of worry hitting him right in the heart.
"At myself. I should have figured it out. I should have known something was wrong," Betty lifted her hand from his and moved to touch his shoulder. He flinched away slightly, mumbling an apology. She dropped her hand back to his. "You do that often. Flinch away when someone raises their hand, wince if someone slaps you on the back at school. God, I've seen Archie do it. You don't say anything but it's hard to hide when you're in pain. I'm angry at myself because I did notice you were hurting but I didn't...god I didn't think anything of it. You must have thought I was a heartless bitch."
"No! I could never think that about you Betty," Jughead soothed.
"I feel terrible about it," Betty said shaking her head in shame.
"Don't," Jughead said. "I'm sorry I've got you all caught up in this. I hate asking you to lie to your Mom."
"It's fine, don't worry about that. I just want to know that you're safe, that you're...away from your Dad," Betty said.
"It's not..." Jughead started but cut himself off. He didn't know how to put this to Betty. She probably wouldn't understand.
"It's not what?"
"It's not his fault, not really."
"It's not FP's fault? Jughead, he's the one beating you! How can you say it's not his fault?"
Jughead winced at her words. "He's just not really cut out for being a single Dad. Maybe I should've gone with my Mom and Jellybean to Toledo but I didn't want to leave. My whole life is here. Archie's here, you're here. But my Dad's also here. I think sometimes he blames me for them leaving. Or he blames me for staying. I think maybe I remind him of Mom and he hates that she's not here. So he takes his anger out on me. I can't blame him for being upset."
"He might be upset about your Mom and Jellybean leaving but Jughead, you know there's absolutely no excuse for him to leave welts all over your back from his belt," Betty said softly. "You know what he's doing is wrong, right?"
"I know ," Jughead replied quickly. "But...I don't know, I think sometimes he just...he just gets in my head. All you ever wanna do is make your parents proud. You're supposed to look up to your parents, they're your role models, your heroes. But...what if they're not? Is that my fault for not being good enough?"
"What do you mean 'not good enough'?" Betty was confused.
"He only...he only hits me when I've stuffed up. He works late so he doesn't want me making noise in the mornings. I run late to school too many days in a row and Weatherbee calls him. Nine times out of ten it's my fault. I deserve"-
"Don't you dare say you deserve it," Betty cut in. Jughead frowned at her, not in anger but in doubt. "You 100% do not deserve to be hit for anything. At all. You don't deserve to be hit by your father for waking him up in the mornings or for getting a call from Weatherbee. You certainly don't deserve to be literally belted by him. I don't care how many times I have to keep telling you this but I'm going to keep doing it until you believe it. You got that?" she added but her tone was gentle.
"Yeah I got it," Jughead said with a short laugh. "Please don't...don't give up on me."
"I don't think I ever could," Betty said, leaning forward to kiss his unruly black waves. Jughead leaned against her, moving with a slight hiss of pain into a more comfortable position next to her. Betty's heart was full to bursting and she didn't know whether she wanted to kiss him all day or cry over his untenable situation but she knew there was one thing she needed to do which Jughead wouldn't be happy about. She needed to tell Archie and Veronica. She had a feeling Archie might let Jughead stay at his place but indefinitely? Archie would need a pretty good reason. She only hoped Jughead wouldn't think of it as the absolute betrayal she knew it would be...
