Jughead after Betty breaks up with him via Archie. He gets drunk on the second night with the Serpents. He calls Betty and they talk but they don't make up. Betty POV.
I lean back on my bed. Archie puts his hand on my knee. I want to look to him and ask him what I am supposed to do. Instead more tears fall. I wipe my cheeks off but it's no use. I burry my face in my hand, knowing that my make-up is shot to hell now. Archie sits next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I love Arch. I trust him. But I don't want him. I want Jug. I want him back so bad it hurts.
"Arch?" I ask.
"Yeah, Betty?"
"I can't believe I did that to him," I say again.
"Tell him. You have to tell him Betty. He's probably scared to death."
"When you were talking to him, with him…what did he do?" I ask, sitting up so that I can look at him. He reaches up to brush the tears from my cheeks as I wait eagerly for his answer. He gives me a sad expression.
"He was angry but he also didn't believe it at first. He kept telling me that it wasn't true. I had to make it pretty convincing. He was really upset, Betty."
"How?"
He looks like he's thinking for a second and then presses his lips together. When it is clear he has the thought, he puts his hand back on my knee.
"Remember when his mom took Jellybean and left? He was scared and alone. He wouldn't cry or scream. He just hated everything around him."
I nod.
"Think of that…then multiply it by ten."
I wrap my knees close to my chest and bury my face in them. He mutters an apology when he puts his arm back around my shoulders. I sob into my knees, crying as hard as I can and losing my mind as I do so. I cry harder, remembering what I told Archie to do. I said we could walk it back, that we might be okay. But that was a lie. I did the one thing that could have broken him and I didn't even know it. I don't know how I am ever going to get him back after this. He's never going to trust me again.
"You have to talk to him," Archie insists.
"He's so upset, Betty. And when Jug can't think straight, he makes stupid decisions…a lot of rash, dumb choices. Just please tell him or tell him that you love him or something. You just have to tell him something."
Before I can respond my phone rings. I sniffle, wiping my face off as I pull it out from my back pocket. There he is. His perfect smiling face with his crown hat still sitting on his head. He smiles back at me like the perfect boyfriend he was.
"It's Jug," I say, looking to Archie. He gives my shoulder a squeeze and then nods. I have to answer it. He's right.
I answer and hold the phone up to my ear, trying to forget the pain that is boiling in my chest or the nervousness that is fizzing in my belly.
"Juggie?" I answer.
"Betty…why did you do that?" he asks. His voice doesn't sound quite right. There is something wrong.
"What happened? What are you doing, Jug?" I demand.
"What happened?" he asks with sarcasm. He sounds irritated. "I should be asking you that! You're the one that sent Archie to the trailer to break up with me! You're the one that said you couldn't take it anymore through our best friend! Why would you do that to me? Didn't you know what that would do?"
"I know, Juggie. I am so sorry—"
"No! Don't call me that! You don't get to call me that after you break up with me! After you dump me!"
That is his voice but there is something so strange about it. It's slurred, almost as if he is high or drunk. But there is no way Jug is on anything. He would never let that happen. I don't care how hurt he is. He would never get near anything that his father did. He knows what that does to someone.
"Betty! Answer me!" he shouts. He would never yell at me. There has to be something else going on.
Archie is sitting still beside me, waiting for me to tell him about the conversation. I am sure he can hear how angry Jughead is sounding.
"Betty! Betty!" he yells.
I don't know what to say. I go into full panic mode, breathing heavily and closing my eyes to make the pain stop.
"Please, Bets," he says. His voice cracks at the end and tapers off, as if he's crying. Then I hear it again. He is crying. I can almost hear his tears through the phone. I want nothing more than to get up and run all the way to his house, envelop him in my arms and make the pain go away, the pain that I caused, the pain that was never meant to be caused. This is all his fault. The Black Hood. This is his fault!
"Jughead," I say.
"Betty," he says back, still crying.
"I am going to explain everything to you. I just can't tell you right now. If I do, you will be in physical danger and I can't have that. Just know that…this is not forever," I tell him. I hope that is enough.
"What does that mean? Why did you do it?"
"I promise I will tell you. You just have to be patient with me."
There is no response.
"Jug?" I ask.
I hear coughing and then a light groan. What is wrong with him? He is slurring and crying and yelling at me. He is acting so strange. I don't want to tell Archie what I think is wrong. I don't want to tell him that I think I made Jug do what his father so often did. I just can't have that thought.
"Did you know that's what my mother said?"
"What?" I ask him. He sounds like he is far away from the phone now and even more slurred than before.
"My mother! She said she couldn't deal with it anymore. She said that he was going down the wrong path and then she took my sister and my heart…and left with them! Like you! But you stole them through Archie. You made him take my heart and deliver it to you on a silver platter!"
I look to Archie with fear. I move the phone from my ear while Jughead sobs on the other side of it.
"I think he's drunk."
"No. He can't be. Not jughead," he says.
"Listen."
I put the phone on speaker.
"Jughead?" I ask.
"Why did you do that Betty?" he asks in a slurred voice. Archie's eyes go wide and his fear reaches my heart as well.
"Why did you leave me? I still needed you…I still need you, Bets. Come on. You said that you loved me. If you love me, you'll tell me. You'll stay with me and you won't…god, Betty. Why would you do that?" he demands again, sounding so broken and sad that I am in complete shock. I look to Archie but he is just as afraid as I am.
"I promise I will explain everything and it will make sense. We are going to be okay, Jug," I promise. "We are going to be fine. Where are you right now?"
"In my trailer."
I look to Archie.
"Call Toni," I mouth.
He nods and then grabs his phone, taking it out into the hallway.
"Where in your trailer are you?" I ask.
"At the table."
"Did you eat dinner or drink anything?"
"You think I'm drinking like my father used to before he got locked up! Yup! I'm drinking, Betty. I'm drinking because you hurt me and I don't know what to do. I just wanted your help and you left. I thought that you loved me…I still love you. Betty, I love you and I don't know what to do."
I take a deep breath because there are tears falling down my face now. I want to help him but I am so scared that if I tell him the truth, the Black Hood is going to attack and kill him. I just can't risk that thought. Instead, I have to make a different plan. I press my lips together, pulling myself together as I decide.
"Jughead," I say with caution. "Juggie…I need you to calm down for me. Get some water and start sipping on it. We're going to be fine. You just need some rest."
"Okay," he says.
"Go get some water and go to the back room."
I hear him moving around. I wait until the sound is clear again to speak. I look out into the hall where Archie is. He looks annoyed and throws his hands up when he sees me. I don't understand so I wait for him to come back in.
"Are you laying down?" I ask Jug.
"Yeah."
"Good. Now just sip some water and go to sleep. Don't leave the trailer the rest of the night. When you wake up, drink more water. You're going to be fine."
"What about us?" he asks.
"We're fine, Jug. We'll be fine."
I can hear his desperate voice become scared again.
"Stay until I fall asleep."
God, what have I done?
"Okay, Juggie."
I put the phone on speaker and then mute it so that he can't hear us. We can hear him moving around. Archie comes back into the room and sits on my bed. He points to the open phone.
"Toni is sending Sweet Pea over to check on him."
I lean back on my bed and Archie keeps his hand on my knee.
"I did that to him, Arch. I made him become the very thing that he hated. I have to fix this. I have to tell him what happened and then we need to hide or run or…"
"Betty, we'll be fine," Archie says. "He'll be alright. When he knows why you did it, it'll be fine. It'll all go away."
Archie sits with me in complete silence as we listen to Jughead cry himself to sleep and there was nothing either of us could do.
