"Hmmmm…" Betty stretched. "Good morning." Her cheeky smile illuminated her face much like the soft light from the window brightened the loft. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I called in…" Jughead simpered, running a hand along Betty's bare back. The sheet was wrapped lazily around her hips as she lay naked on her stomach on the left side of Jughead's bed. He sat of next to her, resting his back against the oak headboard-fully clad in a pair of jeans and gray t-shirt.

"You shouldn't have done that…" Betty hummed.

"Sleep well?" Jughead muttered. "It's nearly eleven."

"Seriously?" Betty jumped.

"I already had my run and a shower…" Jughead started with a laugh. "I just wanted to let you sleep… and I wouldn't have woken you, but you just looked so beautiful." He trailed a hand to the edge of sheet, skimming Betty's backside with his knuckles.

"Not fair…" Betty grinned, pulling at the chest of Jughead's t-shirt. He chuckled softly, rounding her ass and giving a squeeze as she pulled him to her mouth. "What are we doing today?" Betty hummed.

"What do you want to do?" Jughead muttered, resting an elbow on his propped knee.

"I'm okay right here." Betty sighed into the pillow. "But, if you have things to do I understand."

Jughead's face fell, understanding the worry in her tone.

"I'm all yours." He leaned down to press his lips to her crown, Betty's eyes closing on instinct as a hum escaped her throat.

"I love you…" Betty whispered. Jughead sighed, hearing her but not completely understanding the meaning behind the three little words.

His brain was eating him alive; a run that he thought would clear his head, only made matters worse and his heart was in his stomach when it came to one particular brother. He had made more than just a morning jog around Sweetwater River. Alice had called him at the crack of dawn asking to meet up and "talk." Manipulate was the term Jughead would more likely describe it as. He wasn't going to go, avoid the situation until he could figure out what to tell Betty about their "brother," situation. But any thought of it just caused him to shudder.

Alas, Jughead's feet led him The Cooper, oh I'm sorry- Smith doorstep. Alice met him bright-eyed and bushy tailed, an apron around her waist set with a sweater and black jeans. Seven in the morning and Alice was looking alive. She invited Jughead in, sweat and all, offering him a glass of orange juice to quench the thirst developed from his run. Jughead was shocked to see a whole breakfast spread among the table. Eggs, bacon, toast, fruit- a nine yards seeing as Alice was alone. His need to hear her out was knocking his brain. You see, Alice held something over Jughead- so calmly that he hadn't even connected the dots until her words left her mouth. Something that she could use to hurt him- and Betty. Something that complicated things to an avail… Blackmail, Alice was using her knowledge as blackmail. Jughead couldn't tell Betty about their brother or Alice's wrath would come at a vengeance; so much harder to recover from then just a small white lie.

But it wasn't just a small white lie… Jughead knew that. His brain was eating him alive in ways that he didn't completely understand. He needed to make sense of the situation- create a diversion in order to put his mind at ease. Betty didn't know… but did she have to? After all their brother shared her mother and his father, there was no biological connection involved. It was… awkward? Hell yeah, and complicated at that- they shared a sibling, but she wasn't his sister. She hadn't stumbled into his life on some random whim. He hadn't moved back to Riverdale after his deployment on a whim. She was meant to be in his life and he was meant to be in hers. This small town was their serendipity, but he knew- right now, that if her mother got involved her may lose Betty forever.

"You okay?" Betty muttered breaking him from his stupor.

"What?"

"Is everything okay?" Betty started. "You been… off. Ever since we got here last night…"

"I'm sorry…" Jughead stood from the bed. "…I just have a really big case at work right now and then I went and took the day off and-"

"I told you that you didn't need to do that." Betty sighed, leaning over the bed frame to scoop a shirt up from the floor. She slipped it over her head and climbed out of the sheets. Jughead strutted into the kitchen just a few feet away and leaned against the island. "If you need to go into work- go! I'll be fine by myself for a few hours." She walked over to him, pulling her hair from under the collar. "You can't worry about me forever…" She hummed as she wrapped her arms around his waist and Jughead scoffed, tongue in cheek. "Besides I kind of want to go to my apartment…" A sudden buzz from the counter behind them caused Jughead to jump.

"Shit." He muttered.

"What?" Betty quizzed.

"I forgot that I was supposed to meet Archie for lunch… I'll cancel."

"No." Betty jumped.

"You want to go?"

"Not exactly… Call him- see if he'll do drinks tonight, and maybe have him bring Veronica?" Betty weaned.

"What? I thought you said you didn't like her..." Jughead muttered and Betty scoffed.

"No…I said she that she doesn't like me, but that's just too bad."

"And why is that?" Jughead muttered, planting his hands at her hips.

"Because I don't plan on going anywhere." She hummed, leaning in to peck his lips lightly.

"Drinks Betts? You sure…"

"I'll order a water. I'll be fine." She grunted. "Seriously, you've gotta stop worrying about me."

Jughead laughed under his breath, leaning back in to kiss her again. He used her hips as leverage and pushed her back towards the bed. All while not removing his mouth from hers. Betty's ankles met the bed frame and she let out a loud giggle when Jughead came over her and the two of them collided in a cloud of cotton.

"I love you, you know that?" He muttered, taking her lips again.

Jughead's repetitive "I love you's" turned into whispers, guttural and… needy? He kissed her cheeks, forehead, temples, chin, and neck- making sure to pay extra attention to the soft point behind her, causing her to quiver.

"Juggie…" Betty whimpered, gripping at the material on his chest. "You've gotta call Archie."

Jughead groaned in response knowing she was right.

"We're not done…" He climbed off of her small frame, running a hand through his hair while walking into the kitchen before grabbing his phone from the island.

"Promise?" Betty sat up on her knees, tucking her hair behind her ear with her bottom lip drawn into her teeth. Jughead unlocked the small screen, glancing from the phone to Betty and back to the phone again. She mouthed an "I love you," as Jughead muttered a "Hey, man." Slipping out of the door way and into the hall of the building as Betty let out a giggle.

Betty stood from the bed with a sigh, yanking at Jughead's t-shirt she wore. She ran an exasperated hand through her lightly ratted bed head and grabbed a pair of cotton shorts from her duffle. Slipping them on with a yank, she looked around the loft. Walking into the living area, she cleaned up plastic water bottles and folded the blankets that once took residence on the sofa. She let her mind wander to the previous night, a quiet giggle escaping her throat.

She had drifted off to sleep in his car after their "frolic," in his front seat. Betty laughed again at the remembrance of Jughead voicing the peculiar word. He had removed her seatbelt, kissing her forehead gently before voicing that they were home. Betty knew it was premeditated, but Jughead's use of the word "home," had caused her belly to flutter. An episode of groaning and grunting in protest, turned into Betty wrapping her arms around Jughead's neck for a hug. But she had no intent of letting go. Jughead gave in, carrying her up to his loft, laying her on her own side of the bed and stripping her from her clothes in the most non-intimate way. She had persuaded him into a shower, pulling him in with her.

But something was different… something was off. Jughead was off. Her passion for literature and desire for journalism had made her much like him. Of course, it wasn't on such a clinical level, but Betty knew how to read signaled emotions. She was in his loft, his space, and the previous night- his shower. Yet Jughead had made it all about her. Her wants. Her needs. Her pleasure. He was emotional- a side that she hadn't seen since the night he cried in her arms at the center. Betty glanced down to her inner thigh, the faint purple bruise barely skimmed below the hem of her shorts. A warmth growing slowly in her belly as she remembered where his mouth had been the previous night. She also had small contusions around her hipbones from their bought in the car. The way his fingertip grip had used her as a tether. She was his ground-his control, and he seethed under the junctions of her body.

He had apologized endlessly for the half drunken beer bottle that took residence on his coffee table. Betty telling him that it was "okay," and "it's your place Jug." She didn't expect him to give up alcohol for her. Jesus, with the way her father used it to put up with her mother, Betty almost thought it was a necessity for the opposite party in a relationship. None the less, Betty shut him up by kissing him senseless- using his given control to her advantage. Nearly collapsing after their hot shower, Jughead carried her back to bed. Kissing between her shoulder blades before he climbed in next to her pulling her body to his. A mold, finally set after unknowing years of patience.

Betty crossed her arms, slowly making her way to one of the windows are the far side of the loft. She glanced out over the industrial district, train tracks weaving between factory buildings. She wondered if any of the other buildings had converted lofts and it made her want to check out the basement of this one. She hadn't noticed it before, but the loud trains horns echoed through the rafters and it had her mind trailing back to that morning. A red illuminated 6:42 AM had had her squinting at the alarm clock on Jughead's nightstand, if you could call it that. The trains must have been what had woken her to a cold half empty bed, no Jughead in sight. His run was to blame now, how the man had enough energy after their late night- Betty will never know. Something was eating at him and she knew it. As much as she wanted to, she wouldn't push him… Betty could sense fear, but a fear of what? A fear of losing her? A fear of the future? She wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to let him push her out so easily.

"Hey man." Jughead muttered as he slipped out of the loft front door. He couldn't help the smile that grew across his face as he watched Betty mouth an "I love you," from his bed. Her bedhead had taken over her face, her eyes bright from her oversleep, his t-shirt on her body- something that had become so normal for them.

"What's up Jug? We still on for lunch?" A particular redhead muttered through the line.

"That's actually why I'm calling…" Jughead started, latched the heavy door with a click.

"Oh?"

"Before you get on me for cancelling again, that's not what I'm doing…" Jughead started, stuffing his free hand into the front of his jeans before starting a pace of the loft hall.

Archie stayed quiet through the other end, but Jughead could sense an eyebrow raise, an eye roll, and the cross of a knee- Archie's signature "corporate," office stance.

"Drinks? Tonight?" Jughead quizzed opening the stairwell door and resting a cigarette to his bottom lip.

"You're not a big drinker… what's the catch Jug?"

"You have to bring Veronica…" Jughead shrugged before he lit the nicotine stick.

"Done." Archie spat.

"Really? I half expected you to give me shit for cancelling again."

"Nah, I'm really backed up here at the office. Turns out that a "new hire," doesn't mean easy work, I'm working my ass off to make up for all of the lost time." Archie groaned through the line.

"New job isn't sounding too hot… Veronica's daddy dearest still holding up his end of the bargain?"

"Cut it out Jug. I took the job for me and Ronnie, not because of her father. I know you're not big on the whole thing, but can you at least try and keep your mouth shut tonight? I don't need Veronica pissed, because you aren't the one that has to go home with that…"

"Relax Arch, I'm just giving you shit…" Jughead started with a chuckle and a puff. "I know it's a good job, pays well too."

"Yeah… besides she's been nagging on me to see you. We have some news, but it'll be better to tell you when were all together."

"Sounds serious." Jughead assumed.

"It is, but nothing we didn't see coming." Archie mutter nonchalantly.

"Oh Jesus…" Jughead started with a groan. "You didn't go and knock her up- now did you?"

"No, nothing like that." Archie said through a vigorous laughing fit. "Not yet anyways…" he finished with cockiness.

"Dude, I did not need that mental image!" Jughead shuddered with a smile.

"Yeah… How are you doing? It's been too long Jug, your job promotion still going alright?"

"I guess…" Jughead muttered, taping the small rod against the rusted stairwell railing. "I just have some more important things to worry about right now."

"Oh yeah? How's JB? Or better yet, are you still going with that blonde from Family Day? What was her name again-" Archie rambled off.

"Betty." Jughead cut him off. "And yeah…" he looked the loft window. "Tonight, was actually her idea."

"Wait, your bringing her?" Archie mumbled, always two steps behind.

"You didn't think I told you to invite Veronica just for shits and giggles, did you?" Jughead laughed into the phone. He twisted out the bud in a tin can next to the stairwell door, exhaling the final puff and then sinking and sitting against the top step.

"So, you were just going to cancel on me, until blondie told you to change our plans?" Archie said with sarcastic angst.

"No." Jughead spat. "I had all intentions of meeting you for lunch, something just- came up. And can you please stop calling her that!? Her name is Betty." Jughead said again.

"Everything okay?" Archie muttered in curiosity.

"Yeah Arch, nothing I can't handle."

"Something to do with Betty?" Archie quizzed him again.

"She's just got some family issues…" Jughead gave in. Knowing Archie wouldn't stop until he got his way. The egotistical Ginger hadn't changed since high school, or better yet- kindergarten, always knowing how to push Jughead's buttons.

"Uhh yeah, I could tell that her family was bad news when we came for Family Day… Her mother kept asking me questions about my dad and our life back in Toledo, a little intrusive if you ask me." Archie said with ease.

"Wow Arch…" Jughead said with anger tinged sarcasm. "I didn't know that you knew words that big."

"She's bad news Jug…" Archie muttered, not phased. Jughead scoffed into the line, Archie's words striking a deep nerve.

"How 'bout this…" Jughead started. "If I don't get to have a say in your relationship with Veronica, stay the hell out of mine. You got it?" He spat in rage.

"Calm down Jug-"

"No… and you better keep that bullshit to yourself tonight because she doesn't need that, and neither do I! I'll keep myself in check with V, but you do the same with yourself."

Archie sighed sharply through the phone, Jughead picturing him with hand through his red mop.

"What time and where?" Archie finally muttered.

"Bodega, seven o'clock…"

"We'll be there Jug…"

"See you later." Jughead pulled the device from his ear, the screen now covered in a sheen of sweat. High 80's was set for the day and with it being nearly noon, he was beginning to regret his decision to wear jeans.

Jughead's head drooped between his knees, his eyes then coming up to stare out at that train tracks and scattered billboards. The view wasn't great, but it gave the place character and a building all to himself, he knew he really couldn't ask for much more. His thoughts about Betty and the regards to her mother traveled from, "I need to tell her now," to "We just need to make it through the day." He needed a plan, not some spring on her bombshell that he knew would send Betty running- not to mention spiraling. A creaking noise behind him caused him to jump, but a messy bun wearing blonde escaped in his t-shirt and a pair of shorts- so he didn't mind. She crept slowly, sinking next to him on the step before gently resting her head on his shoulder. Jughead let out a light sigh laugh, wrapping his right arm around her waist.

"Does it get lonely?" She finally muttered. He glanced do at her, slightly confused by what she meant. "And loud, honestly I don't understand how you sleep with those trains."

"You did." He spat confidently.

"Because I was exhausted." She nearly sang back and he laughed.

"Seriously though…" Betty started, moving her head to look up at him. "You're here, all alone, in this big building."

"Betts…" Jughead started. "I work with people all day, from the time I leave this place in the morning to whatever unknown time I get back each night- I am around someone for every second. Sometimes it gets lonely yeah… But it won't be like that for long."

"You are not asking me to move in with you right now." Betty jumped at him, her head springing back up from his shoulder. Jughead laughed again with a scoff, tightening his grip around her waist.

"No…" he started and she rested her head on him again. "Jellybean will be here next week to stay for the summer."

"Oh yeah…" Betty muttered, feeling slightly defeated. "I'm sorry."

"Would you?" Jughead nearly whispered, so quiet Betty wasn't sure if she heard him right.

"What? You want me to move in with you?"

"Not right now…" he started. "But, whenever you're ready and willing- my offer stands."

"Offer?"

"You could have one of the rooms downstairs if you would like, be roommates with JB." Jughead hummed. The phrase rolled off his tongue like honey, possibly not even fully registering through his brain.

"You're not serious…" Betty said with a tinge of disbelief.

"No?"

Betty sighed against him, swatting his chest lightly with her hand.

"Seriously though Betts…" He leaned so she would lift her head from the sag she had against him. "If you want to." The vulnerability in his eyes, hit her hard- her core burning with… hope? Hope for herself in his life? Hope for the future? She really needed to stop having these internal brain rummages.

"I promise I'll think about it… okay?" She quizzed with a nod, nuzzling back deeper into his neck.

"That's enough for me…" he kissed at her crown and she closed her eyes on instinct. "For now." He finished with another peck.

"Are we all set for tonight?" Betty changed the subject, not wanting to fight him on his possessiveness.

"All set… But Betts, if you don't want to-"

"Juggie… stop, okay? I'm fine." She cut him off with a hand on his left arm and her use of the particular pet name had his heart jumping.

"Really? Because "fine" is the unspoken universal definition of "not fine." He sighed. "Are you okay?"

"Are you asking as my counselor or my love?" Betty hummed, looking innocently up at him.

"Both?" Jughead simpered.

"I'll be okay." Betty nodded, snuggling deeper into his side.

"Do you want to head over to your apartment?"

"And check out the damage? Yes please!" Betty pulled away from him, jumping to her feet before holding out a hand to the man now below her.

"What are you so worried about?" Jughead muttered taking her hand, using the left railing as leverage so he could stand.

"Jug, I left my mother in charge of my bills while I was in treatment…"

"Say no more." Jughead held his hands up in surrender after a swipe down his pant legs.

"Let me get dressed and we'll go?"

"You want me to go?"

"Well, yeah Jug…" As the lightest smile grew across his face, Betty didn't realize that her words would strike such a sentimental nerve.

"Okay." Jughead whispered with a nod. "Come on, let's go."

They drove Jughead's Kia to the Northside of town. Passing neighborhoods of picket fences and groomed spruce bushes, leaving them behind with the roar of an engine. It was Friday with mid-May was creeping in like the leaves on the trees. They ventured into downtown as Betty watched mothers walking strollers and mailmen slaving over envelopes through her window.

"Next left…" She muttered gently. Jughead clicked on his turn signal, the echoed clicking filling their small compartment. He placed a hand to steady her knee, squeezing gently around her patella. Betty turned to give him a light smile, exhaling gently. "It's just right up here."

They pulled up to a large white brick building, the paint chipping in the most beautifully rustic way… very "Northside." Rows of windows in 6x6's lined the structure, curtains in sight for the naked eye. Jughead parked, jumping out of car so he could open Betty's door. Betty had once lived within the middle of the large edifice, "third floor fourth door-" is what she'd always say. She had lived in the building for two years, her one bedroom one bathroom, cracker jack box, being just enough for her. Betty and Jughead climbed the stairs, the single elevator being once again, and always, out of order. Betty rambled her living situation to Jughead as they rose in elevation. She pulled a set of keys from her jacket pocket once they hit the third-floor hallway. With a jangle and a click, Betty pushed open the slender door.

"What the hell?" She immediately muttered. Jughead's light smile from Betty's rambling had turned down, catching sight of the large empty room.

Jughead followed her into the bare apartment and Betty walked into the kitchenette, a sheet of printed paper accompanying the counter. "You have got to be kidding me…" She nearly spat after reading the document.

"What is it?" Jughead mumbled as Betty snatched up the paper with anger.

"The deed." She held it up mockingly before holding it out to him. Jughead reached for it, taking it from her grasp.

"Established March twenty-fourth of the year seen above, this property is in possession of… Harold J. Cooper."

"My fucking father." Betty lashed. "How could they?"

"Wait Betts…" Jughead started examining the document. "Look at the date." He held it back out to her. "This is dated back to just over two years ago… this place has never been yours."

"What?" Betty seethed with a crack.

"Look…"

"I- I don't understand, I set this all up with the landlord- I was renting to own."

"You were what? You wanted to own this place?" Jughead looked around at the small space.

"Not what's important right now Jug." She threw back at him. He held his hands up in surrender, an action that had become all too familiar to him. Betty stalked past him to look into the other rooms, most of which like the last- empty. "Where's all of my stuff?" She walked into her once bedroom, a set of 4 cardboard boxes took residence in the far corner. She opened one to find clothes for the upcoming season, tanks, shorts, and swimsuits. Another one contained shoes, sandals and strapped heels- boxes she could only assume had been left out because of their prevalence.

The third box had knick-knacks and sentimental items. Betty sank down the light brown painted wall, pulling the box in-between her legs. She pulled out her high school diploma, an old report card, a snow globe from her and her families trip to Disneyworld during her childhood. Jughead watched her from his lean against the doorframe, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his ankles crossed. He only stood when Betty's look froze on an item in the box. He walked over to her slowly as she reached her hands in the box. Jughead used the wall as leverage and sat next to Betty on the floor. She carefully pulled out a silver bordered photo, a young blonde and redhead filling the frame. She trailed her fingers ever so gently across the faces behind the glass.

"It's her birthday today…" Betty whispered with a soft smile. "She would've been twenty-four… two months older than me and she never let me live it down." Betty scoffed with a light laugh.

"Do you miss her?" Jughead gently muttered.

"More than anything…" Betty nodded to him. Her eyes had just begun to fill with a glaze, "But I know she's in a better place… I know she's happier." A single tear fell onto the frame, refracting between the shoulders of the naive young teens.

"She was beautiful…" Jughead muttered, placing his hand to the small of Betty's back.

"Yeah she was…"

"Tell me about this picture Betts."

"It was the summer before our freshman year, our families went out to Sweetwater River over the fourth…" Betty started. "The night this picture was taken, me and Cheryl snuck out of our tent and when night swimming. We thought we were badasses!" Betty sniffed with a laugh. "Little did we know our parents were still awake and watching us the entire time."

"Did you get in trouble?" Jughead asked.

"No way!" Betty said with anguish. "They joined in on the fun, Polly and Jason were the Debbie downers…" Jughead stilled at the mention of the infamous big brother. Betty continued to lightly swipe at the two young girls in her hand.

"I want to do something…" Jughead finally muttered after an inner monologue. "Come on." He stood from the carpeted floor.

"Jug…" she groaned.

"Please?" Betty grumbled, but took his hand and stood.

"What are we doing?"

"It's a surprise." Jughead muttered coyly.

"But I hate surprises."

"Well that's too bad- let's go." He pulled on her hand.

"Jug…" He turned back towards her. "What about my apartment?"

"We'll figure it out, okay? I promise." He muttered with a nod, but Betty gave him an uneasy look. "Give me your keys." He said after a sigh. Betty pulled the clattering keys from her jacket, handing them to him. "I have to make a few calls, go wait in the car- I'll lock up."

"Jug…"

"Go Betts…" He stepped in to kiss her, taking her senses by surprise. He folded his car key into her hand, squeezing gently against her knuckles before pulling away.

"Okay." She breathed with a sigh, turning to walk into the hall. The simplest kiss had her reeling for more, she couldn't get enough of the way he almost melted against her. Or was she the one nearly turning to mush around him? The way he read her mind was almost scary. He had a way of knowing exactly what she was feeling without her needing to say it, and it was something Betty didn't know if she would ever get used to.

She sat in the passenger seat of the Kia, playing leisurely with her fingers. Her ring twisting habit having been broken by the last non-jewelry wearing five months. The saying, "twiddling my thumbs," came to her mind as she glanced from her hands to the windshield and back again. Damn, she really needed to get a new phone. And one with no ties to her parents, which she was learning quickly. Why the hell had her parents lied to her? The apartment had never been hers, but why clean it out? Where was all of her stuff and how long had it been gone? She broke from her self-loathing episode when she spotted Jughead exiting the apartment building. He looked both ways before running across the street.

"All set?" He asked after the click of his seat belt.

"Where are we going?" Betty mumbled, her voice mingling along the lines of annoyed and intrigued. Jughead gripped the wheel and clicked the car into drive, looking her before looking forward.

"You'll see."