Same Scene as Chapter 24, Just Jughead's POV
Jughead was standing on a ladder, in front of a girl's bedroom window, waiting to be rejected. The thought of it made him want to jump straight down, risk breaking his leg and hobble away for dear life. But it was too late, he had already knocked on her window.
Betty turned from her mirror to look at him and looked confused.
She's probably wondering how I got the ladder. Jughead wondered. Or why I got the ladder. Maybe just appearing at her window wasn't the best move. I'm not making it easy for her to reject me.
But Jughead couldn't help noticing that she didn't seem angry or creeped out, much to his relief. She seemed amused by his appearance at her window.
Well at least she isn't gonna slam the blinds down in my face. Yes! I know Betty would never do that, but I'm hanging out on a ladder here, I've got to consider all the options.
She glanced at her bedroom door, then walked over to the window to pull it open.
Once the window was slightly cracked, Jughead slid his hand in to help her open it.
The window was opened and Jughead let the romantic side of him take over. A side of him he didn't know exist until about a week ago.
"Hey there, Juliet. Nurse off duty?"
Wow. I feel like Jason Blossom is cringing for me right now in his grave.
But Betty didn't seem to find it cringe worthy, Jughead noted. She smiled at him at least and stepped aside to let him into her room.
Jughead decided moving away from Shakespeare before this became to romantic comedy-esque was a good move.
"You haven't gone full Yellow Wallpaper on me yet, have you?" he asked her as he practically crashed into her bedroom.
Well if her parents are here, they will be here any second. Jughead thought, embarrassed. Could this situation be any worse?
Betty sighed and Jughead immediately realized that referencing Yellow Wallpaper to someone who lived with Alice Cooper was probably not the wisest choice.
Congratulations on saying the worst possible thing right now.
"They're crazy." Betty told him, clearly affected by his Yellow Wallpaper comment. "My parents are crazy!"
Ok, so not the time for grand declarations of romantic intent. Got it. Jughead thought, almost relieved by this realization. She needs her friend Jughead right now. That is who I will be.
"They're parents, they're all crazy." Jughead tried to reassure her in his most off the cuff way. He knew he hadn't succeeded either in changing her outlook on her family or changing his mindset from romance to friendship.
"But what if Polly is too? The way she was talking to me, the way she looked at me."
Betty began to pace and Jughead could feel how much she had been internally panicking before he got there. He stepped behind her, hoping he could convince her to turn around and not be afraid.
"And now all I can think is maybe I'm crazy like they are."
How could you possibly think that? Jughead thought. Jughead hated the idea of Betty beating herself up. He hated that she worried that she could on any level be even remotely are crazy as her mother. It wasn't possible; Betty could never be the kind of person her mother is. She was too good, too wonderful, too caring.
She turned around to face him and he placed his right hand on her shoulder.
"Hey." Jughead said, trying to inject as much sympathy as he could muster into a word.
Betty sighed, though it seemed to Jughead to be more a sigh of relief than frustration. Apparently she had been holding these feelings in for awhile.
I know the feeling. Jughead thought, thinking about his reason for being here in the first place. But now is not the time for that. She needs me.
"We're all crazy." he told her in his normal sardonic way. He let his hand drop, not wanting to overstep the friendship bounds.
Betty looked at him, amused. Jughead couldn't help but feel a little satisfied, but he knew she needed to hear more.
But what could he say? What were the words that made everything ok? What could he possibly tell her?
His family wasn't necessarily crazy, but they were unstable. His mother ran away with his sister and left him with his broken, drunk of a father. Every day, Jughead rallied against it, but he always struggled with the idea of becoming either one of his parents. He never realized that he and Betty could have something like that in common.
"We are not our parents, Betty." Jughead reassured both her and himself. "We are not our families."
Betty swallowed hard and nodded. She seemed to take his words to heart.
Good. Maybe if you believe it, I can too. Maybe if you can see that our lives don't have to be that of our parents, there is hope for me too.
He could have stopped there. Maybe he should have stopped there, but Jughead felt like there was something missing from this moment. Some words or phrases that could completely make things right for her.
"Also…" Jughead began, but his throat caught.
Also, there is no way you could ever be like your parents. You are too kind and loving to be anything less than what you are.
Also, the world is a complicated place. You can be so much more than what people think you can be.
Also, you don't see yourself the way I do. You are so amazing and the world is brighter place because of you. At the very least my world is.
Also, I can't imagine a world where you were anything less than the beacon of hope I see you as.
Jughead was coming up with a million ways to finish that sentence, but words were failing him. Words were actually failing him, Jughead Jones. The aspiring novelist was at a loss for words. He tried moving his lips, but he just couldn't find a way to get the words to come out.
"What?" Betty asked him, looking at him curiously.
He couldn't answer her. He could barely keep breathing. He tried looking into her eyes, to see if there was a way they could do one of their silent exchanges. Communicate that even though he was at a loss for words that he was supporting her.
But the second he looked in her eyes and he was gone. The words even left his mind and there was no hope of that sentence ever being completed. All he could think about was how beautiful her eyes were; how sad they were, but waiting for hope to fill them again. He allowed his glance to flit down to her lips and now all he could think was how desperately he wanted to kiss her.
Betty was standing in front of him, shaking her head confusedly.
"What?" she asked again, looking worried this time.
Jughead didn't think, he just acted. He placed both of his hands on either side of her face and pressed his lips to hers.
Oblivion. He had never felt more alive than in that moment. He had closed his eyes just before kissing her, and now he couldn't imagine ever opening them again. There was nothing he could see that could compare to this feeling. His lungs felt tight, making it seem as though if he breathed too hard he might die. His skin felt like it was on fire. He felt weak in the knees. If Betty really wanted to, she could knock him over and he would be powerless to her. His lips moved against hers and Jughead began to worry for a brief second that this kiss was unwanted by her. Then he felt her fingers touch his face, he felt her sinking into the kiss.
All doubts from his mind were erased. The world made sense to him for the first time in so long. Kissing Betty seemed natural, like they should have been kissing for years.
It was too soon when Betty started to break away. All the doubts came flooding back in an instant. Jughead worried that she was upset with him for kissing her, but then he felt her smile against his lips.
And Jughead breathed. It felt like he hadn't taken a breath since he walked into her bedroom. He sighed in pure relieved because no matter what happened from this moment on, he had finally been able to express how he felt about her. And that was enough for the moment.
There was suddenly a loud bang outside and Betty jerked her face way.
"The car!" she declared.
Jughead laughed internally. Of course she is thinking about a car.
"Wow." Jughead said, tilting his head towards her in amusement. "That's what you're thinking about in the middle of our moment?"
Our moment? Jughead thought to himself. We had a moment. I had a moment with Betty.
Jughead couldn't help the disappointment he felt when she pulled her face out of his hands.
"No. Polly talked about a car that Jason had stashed for them down Route 40 near some sign? If we can find it, we can confirm Polly's story." Betty explained.
Oh, she is thinking about Jason Blossom's murder. I knew there was something I liked about this girl. Jughead thought.
Jughead felt himself become more focused. He knew Betty was right and that they had to investigate; there could be evidence there that helped them with the case. But it didn't take him long to realize one of the most obvious possibilities. What if they got to the place where Polly was talking about and there was nothing there? Betty could possibly be crushed and he couldn't let that happen to her. He felt like he should warn her, but at the same time he wasn't completely willing to take the hope that her sister was right away from her.
"One way or another." he simply stated, hoping it was enough that she understood.
"I need to know, Juggie." Betty explained.
She had to know how powerless he was when she called him Juggie.
"Alright." Jughead said, looking away from her now. He needed to focus if they were going into investigation mode.
"We should probably head out soon before it gets too dark."
"What should we bring?" Betty asked.
"We will need to get some flashlights. Maybe a cell phone charger." Jughead said, trying to figure out what one brings on this type of mission. He quickly glanced at Betty, realizing what the weather was supposed to be like. "And you might wanna grab a jacket, it is supposed to rain."
"Ok." Betty said as she turned and left the room.
Jughead just stood there, trying to focus but kept reflecting back on the kiss. It was amazing in the moment, but now he couldn't stop thinking about what a terrible idea it was. She was vulnerable and had a lot on her mind and he decided that was the moment to make his move.
Nice going. You are now the guy who preys on a girl when she is vulnerable. Not just a girl. Your best friend.
The more Jughead thought about the kiss, the more embarrassed he got.
He took a quick glance around Betty's room, hoping to distract himself and felt more embarrassed. It seemed like every corner of it had pictures of her and Archie throughout the years. It was plain to see that Betty wasn't over Archie.
Maybe her quick thinking of changing the subject was for the best. We can just pretend it never happened.
And Jughead could just live it. Or at least that is what he would tell himself.
"Hey, my parents are gone and my dad left his car at home. We can use it to get to route 40." Betty shouted from downstairs.
"Sounds good." Jughead said, leaving what he now considered the scene of the crime to meet Betty in the foyer.
He made it downstairs to see Betty, grabbing the keys from where they sat on the mantle.
"You got the flashlights?" he asked, reaching the bottom of the stairs
"Yeah." Betty said, extending one out to him.
Jughead grabbed it, trying as best he could to keep some distance between the two of them.
Betty then started putting on a raincoat. "Are you ready?"
As ready as I am going to be.
"Let's go." Jughead told her, avoiding her gaze and he walked over to open her front door for the two of them. If there was any hope of him moving on from whatever his feelings were, distance and lack of eye contact were key.
As he opened the door, stepping aside to let her through, he realized she wasn't behind him.
Betty was standing in the middle of the foyer. From the quick glance he gave her, Jughead could tell she was nervous.
She is probably concerned about Polly. Some final doubts before we find out if Polly was right.
"Jughead." Betty said, a resolve present in her voice that Jughead couldn't understand.
"Yeah?" Jughead replied. Ignoring his better judgment, he turned to face her, looking her in the eyes. Her beautiful, heart trapping, soul crushing eyes.
There was a look of determination on her face. It was very much a determination he had seen from her before. But he wasn't sure it had anything to do with her sister.
"To be continued." she replied, simply.
He knew she wasn't talking about the investigation and smiled in spite of himself. When she returned his smile, it seemed like everything was falling into place.
Now let's go solve a murder.