A/N sorry this took soooo long and that it was a mess of ms word garbage first time i tried to post. Big thans to To Love This who kicked me to update then pointed out the weirdness xx

Exhaustion comes over her like a drug as they walk silently homeward, distorting her senses to this hall of mirrors she's stepped into where the familiar becomes grotesque. Where loving father becomes a kidnapper and helicopter mother a cheat. Where she might see in her brother's reflection more of the boy she loves than of herself.

Jughead's hand feels warm and strong tangled with hers and she focuses on it, a pinpoint of sanity in a sea of madness. She holds tight and tries not to question that he seems to have taken her back. That he's just put aside everything, Archie and Veronica and the unsettling possibility of sharing a sibling and simply, without a word, taken her back. In all the insanity of the day that seems the craziest thing. That getting him back could possibly be that easy.

He lets go of her hand and for a second she imagines that just thinking it has somehow reminded the cosmos that it's impossible and snatched the dream from her numb fingers.

Then his arm comes around her waist and his voice is soft and rich in her ear. "I've got you Betts"

Only then does she realise how much she's swaying, how much of her weight he's having to support to keep her upright.

Polly's at the door, voice shrill, eyes wild with worry but Betty barely hears her through the haze of exhaustion. All she's aware of is the softness of her bed and Jughead's hands retracting as he stands.

"Jug" she calls him back weakly. "Don't go"

She lifts one hand tiredly hoping he'll get the hint. He does and lies down on the bed beside her. She wants to protest that he's on top of the covers but she hasn't the strength, her eyes are already closing and it's enough that she can feel his warm breath against her cheek and smell his cheap aftershave as she falls asleep.

By the time she wakes darkness has fallen and Jughead is sitting up against her headboard reading an old copy of Cosmo that had been lying on her night stand. She watches his blue eyes scan the words, and for a moment all the madness of the day fades and all there is is Jughead sitting on her bed like he belongs right there with his beanie off and his thick dark hair spilling over his eyes.

"Hey," her voice comes out croaky and hoarse and he immediately discards the magazine and reaches for the class of water on the bedside table. "Thanks"

The water is tepid, like it's been sitting there for a while and she glances at her bedside clock to see it's well into the evening.

"Is my mom back?"

"She called," he takes the glass back from her and sets it down. "Polly says she won't be home till late. How you doing?"

She huffs. "You know what's scary? I'm not that freaked out. My family is so nuts that at this point even all this insanity doesn't surprise me."

"That's disturbing," his brows knit together and the corner of his mouth tightens in an expression so familiar that in spite of everything she can't help but smile at the warm glow of affection it sparks in her chest.

"Thank you." She reaches for his hand because the warmth in her chest demands contact but stops just short feeling suddenly unsure and self-conscious. "For looking after me"

"Of course"

They're silent, both watching the few inches of comforter separating their fingertips for a few moments before he speaks again, her name coming out slightly broken. He clears his throat and tries again. "Do you want me to get Polly? I didn't really tell her anything and she's pretty freaked out"

She groans at the thought of telling Polly about what happened today. Revealing that their father is kinda a sociopath and their mother is out looking for a long-lost brother that could well be a serpent's love child. Jughead awkwardly brushes his fingers over hers, pulling back almost immediately as if unsure if he has permission to touch her. "Or I could tell her you, I dunno, had low blood sugar or something"

She laughs at that, just a brief huff of mirth but it makes him smile and she feels a tiny bit saner. "She can handle the truth, she knows how nuts they are. I'll go talk to her in a bit"

"'Kay," he licks his lips and glances around skittishly. "Do you need anything? Or, maybe want me to go?"

He looks like he's about to get up and the thought of him leaving is so unacceptable that she instinctively reaches out and places her hand firmly on his thigh. "No and definitely not" his eyes flash to her hand on his leg and then back to her face.

"Betty" he mumbles like her name is the only word he can pull from his mind and yet in it she hears all the things he isn't saying. All the questions and the cautions and underneath the pleading she knows she'll hear in her own voice if she says his name back to him.

She lifts her hand from his leg and cups his cheek the way she's done so many times before, framing his face with her hand and savouring the warmth of his skin under her palm. "Jug," his name comes out as shakily as he'd said hers and she hears his breathing shudder in response.

He's trembling, an almost imperceptible vibration under her palm and she knows he's as terrified as she is right now. But she's always been braver so she does what she knows he won't, she slips her hand from his cheek to the back of his neck and pulls his lips to hers.

He makes a noise in his throat when their mouths meet that's somewhere between a groan and a whimper and his lips yield immediately to hers. His hands lie limply at his sides and their bodies are barely touching but she's still alive with a sort of full body buzz of excitement that has virtually nothing to do with passion and everything to do with possession and the proprietary chant of mine mine mine inside her skull.

When she pulls away he swallows thickly and opens his mouth as if to speak but nothing comes out and his eyes go to her lips for a lingering moment then back up to her eyes. His mouth moves again but she silences him with a second kiss. She kisses more firmly this time and he matches the pressure perfectly and brings his hands to her waist as she presses him onto his back and slides her tongue smoothly into his mouth. She's still feeling a bit disconnected from reality, both worn out and on edge at the same time and a little lost in the exhausted euphoria of survival.

Without thinking what she's doing she trails her hand down his chest and up under his shirt briefly stroking the dip of his stomach before tracing the jut of his sharp hip bone down to the waist band of his tatty jeans. She'd do it now she realises. Right now. She'd unbuckle his belt and fuck him right here in the wreckage of her family's sanity just to stake her claim. Maybe that makes her crazy too.

It's his sanity that prevails and she finds her hands gently caught up in his and held between them. "Betty" it's almost chiding or maybe more accurately it's plaintive as he asks her not to test his restraint right now. "You need to talk to Polly"

She nods both grateful and disappointed to be disentangling herself from his embrace. "Will you stay? I guess you might kinda need to hear what my mom has to say too"

He grimaces at that. "I'm doing my best to block that thought out right now."

She nods her agreement. FP and her mom seems impossible and more than a little unsettling. But then again, if she thinks about it, there's always been a tension between them, a little extra bristle to her mom which maybe she'd misinterpreted as typical Alice Cooper prejudice.

"I know, God, I feel like I barely know her right now, or my dad" she feels Jughead's hand firmly squeezing hers and takes a deep breath, drawing in his strength along with a lungful of calming air. "Ok let's talk to Polly and prepare to ambush Alice Cooper"

"Christ" Jughead runs a hand through his hair then back down over his face. "Just don't put me in the vanguard ok, I can't guarantee the steeliness of my backbone in the face of your mother"

"Jughead Jones," she teases feeling a wave of happiness at the privilege of being able to tease him again. "Are you yellow?"

"Yes," he confirms decisively with dancing playful eyes. "When it comes to mama Coops most definitely yes"

She laughs. "Women and children first then I guess"

He smirks and gestures for her to go ahead of him to face her family. "Lead the way"