Making Discoveries
By kp004a8561
All rights are owned by CW and Netflix
Chapter 25Late that night Jughead and Betty lay in bed silently staring into each other's eyes. To the outside world it would seem creepy or weird but to them, it was a way for them to connect, a way to comfort each other. After the drama earlier in the day surrounding Jellybean's kidnapping had taken its toll.
Betty sluggishly moved forwards kissing Jughead on the tip of the nose.
"Out with it. Out of all the events of tonight what has got under your skin?"
Jughead let out a deep breath.
"Dad not believing me, Jelly not listening and being careless, Alice going full Serpent."
Betty rolled on to her back, moving Jug with her so he could rest his head on her right shoulder and she could move her fingers through his locks.
"Let's start with Jelly."
"Jelly. Can you believe she knew that Malachi was following her for a whole week and she didn't attempt to tell any of us? My sister just makes me want to scream. I get she had to learn how to look after herself in Toledo but she was lucky that Malachi is an imbecile. She just can't seem to see we are trying to keep her safe. I've spent most of my life trying to protect her, trying to make sure she could enjoy being a kid like I've never had the chance to but she doesn't appreciate it. Earlier when she had that tantrum because we still wouldn't let her join the Serpents, I just wanted to throttle her."
"I don't think it's that she doesn't appreciate everything you've done for her. I think it is more like she sees you as her hero because of you always protecting her, she wants to be like you. You know what you Joneses are like if anyone says no to you then you always try to turn that no into a yes. I'll try to get FP to talk to her, she might receive it better from a parent than us. Next Mum going full serpent."
"It was terrifying. I thought when we saw Clifford Blossom shoot Jason or when we moved Dwayne's body that were the most horrific things, I would ever see but Alice was calculated. I really thought Penny was dead until Dad checked her over. Your mum broke ranks, marched straight over to Penny then slit open her face going all Molly Weasley on her. Do you know on some level I've always been jealous of you having the childhood you had? Even with The Black Hood and an overcontrolling Alice as parents it always seemed as if your life was idyllic compared to mine but after I saw how stone-cold calculated Alice could be, I realised that your house could have been as abusive as mine both mentally and emotionally."
"I won't deny it. At times I did feel emotionally abused growing up it was just the other end of the spectrum to you. I had nowhere to breathe with my whole life controlled while you had too much freedom. Promise me when we do have kids, we find some balance so that we let them have some freedom to make mistakes for themselves but we guide them to make the right choices."
Jughead squeezed Betty tightly.
"Always."
"So finally, your Dad. You need to stop pressing his buttons and winding him up. I know you are best friends but he is your Dad. You know he wants us to have everything he couldn't in life. By touching my stomach like I was pregnant was a trigger for him, plus it was a shitty way of manipulating me. You do realise that even though he was pretty much emotionally abusive to you as a kid he had it much worse. Mum told me his Dad snapped his arm in two when they were our age because he didn't want to join the serpents and wanted to go to college. FP swore to mum he would never hit any of his kids."
"I guess you're right. He never speaks about Grandpa. Dad has kept that promise all these years. We may get physical by pushing each other or yelling but he has never hit me."
"Maybe we lay off talking about Bonnie and Jago outside of this room to calm things down. Things were still tense between you guys even after you came home. It was like he was watching every look or touch you gave me to see any sign that I was pregnant."
Jughead huffed.
"I know you're right but it just annoys me that he thinks that if you were pregnant, I wouldn't tell him. Since he came out of prison, we've got closer but tonight made me flash back to all the times things got intense when he was drinking. Thank you. I really don't know where I would be without you. You always help me clarify what I'm feeling."
Jughead scooted up the bed so he was at the same level with Betty. He gently kissed her.
The next morning Betty got up to make breakfast. She wanted to spend the day pampering Jughead, he had so much on his mind trying to juggle everything in their lives something was bound to drop if he didn't learn to relax once in a while. She chopped up a grapefruit up for him then began to mix the ingredients for chocolate orange waffles when FP entered the kitchen.
"Oh, Betts…I didn't know you were up. Are you feeling okay? Nauseous?" Betty thought for the love of all things holy how had her mum never killed FP before now. She felt like screaming. Betty narrowed her eyes to glare at her step-father.
"AHHHHH. Forsythe Pendleton Jones listen to me and listen to me good before I have to channel my Smith genes and maim you. I AM NOT and NEVER have been pregnant. Jughead is a manipulate asshole for the stunt he pulled yesterday to get me to stay home but he was referring to our future kids, very distant future. Can we please drop this? All it is going to do is damage your relationship with Jug and place mom and me in a difficult position."
FP looked sheepish.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to get you mad. I just want the two of you to have the best future you can possibly have. You know we both love your brother like mad but both Alice and I had to compromise on our future because of the choices we made at your age. I don't want that for you."
"I know you do, that's exactly what I told Juggy last night. He was up late fretting about things. Could you speak to Jelly about not being allowed to joining the Serpents? She had a hissy fit again when Jug tried to talk to her."
"That girl will be the death of me. I'll talk to her. I've talked to Alice about what happened. We'll need to watch our backs for a while, Penny will want revenge. I swear if I hadn't been in the delivery suite with Gladys I would think Alice gave birth to our dear Forsythia."
Betty finished making the waffles and coffee, placing them on a tray with the grapefruit to take up to their room.
"I'm going to take this up. Just so we are clear Jago and Bonnie are our imaginary kids okay?"
"Got it. Sorry, Betts."
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