CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT: Bigger Than This

After having spent their first night apart as a married couple, Betty asked Jughead if they could meet up straight after school. The significance of this divide in their marriage, especially so early on, had really affected Betty, terrifying her and shaking her over the fact that for the first time since her wedding day and despite everything, maybe she and Jughead won't be able to make it...

The thought sent shivers down Betty's spine and pulsed determination through her to ensure that it did not come to that, that her greatest fears wouldn't come true.

Both Betty and Jughead had their reasons for feeling justified in their thinking and the way that they felt after many months of enormous challenges for two teenagers and a gradual lack of communication drove them to spending their first night apart when Jughead had packed up his meagre amount of belongings up and asked to stay next door with his best friend and his father.

Betty had been hurt that Jughead had lied to her over the fact that he had withheld information from both Sheriff Keller and her, concealing the fact that he had been out on the night of Chuck's murder, taking Emi for a walk not long before his estimated time of death. In fact, not only had she been upset that he had lied to her, but she was also angry that he had essentially put the integrity of her and her parents alibis at risk by not telling her.

However, as she had lay in bed that night and between being disturbed by Emi's wakeups for feeds throughout the night, Betty was reminded of just how dedicated Jughead had been to her, through everything.

After all, Jughead had stood by her even after she broke up with him and despite the fact that she'd told him that she had been carrying another man's baby throughout the entirety of their relationship. He never, ever doubted her about Chuck, not even for a second. And, he had just about gone to the ends of the earth to prove his commitment to and love for both Betty herself and their daughter...

#

Jughead walked home from school with Betty and Emi that day after she had asked him if they could meet and speak privately after school.

Seeing as their last conversation in their bedroom had grown both loud and heated, Betty settled Emi down into the cot that is still a little too big for her nursery in the room next door to hers before she and Jughead relocate to their bedroom as he trails in after her a little sheepishly.

"Come home, Juggie" is the first thing that Betty says, pleading with him and imploring him to return.

Already, her eyes are filling with tears as her lip begins to tremble fearfully. Over the last day, she has realised just how much bigger than a lover's tiff their issues are, leaving Betty terrified. Just the idea of not being able to bring their marriage back from the point that they have both stood by and allowed it to get to fills her with fear.

Jughead stands there in the middle of the room. Although his eyes are soft, his expression is straight and neutral. He too realises the depth of the wedge that he and Betty have allowed to settle between them and force them apart as the stress of their new marriage, raising their daughter and Chuck both in his life and after death has put on the two of them. After all, it had been no simple matter and no small issue for Jughead to get to the point to walkout, to leave his home and his wife, even for just a night. No, it had taken a lot of little things to build up and get to that point.

However, unlike the day before, Betty doesn't give up and she doesn't give in as quickly, taking his larger hands into her own, holding them tight as they swing between them while she looks up pleadingly and desperately to him

"Please, Juggie... Please, come home. I shouldn't have let you go so easily yesterday. I should have fought for you. I should have fought harder to make you stay."

After a long, outdrawn silence, Betty feels the relief surge through her as Jughead slowly begins to nod, taking a few steps towards her to close the gap between them. He opens his arms to her as she just collapses into his calming body.

"I'm sorry, Jughead. I'm so sorry... I'm sorry that I haven't been turning to you as much as I should have in decision-making and communication. I'm sorry I haven't been factoring you in and acting like you're my husband. I'm sorry I had to ask you whether you'd killed Chuck or not."

Feeling her whimper into him guiltily at the end of her words breaks Jughead's heart. So, he holds her closer and tighter into his chest, rubbing up and down her back as he whispers into her hair below his chin.

"I'm sorry, too, Betts. I've made stupid mistakes and made bad decisions as well... I should have been honest with you all along and told you about how I went out that night."

Betty nods into his chest as he holds her, his hand continually trying to reassure her and comfort her, rubbing strong, sure circles into her back.

Then, as she pulls herself away from the comfort of his body just a little to look up and into his eyes with her own teary green ones, Betty's lip quivers as she asks her husband the single question that she couldn't bear hearing the wrong answer to.

"Juggie... Are we okay?"

"Yeah..." he breathes, pressing a kiss to the top of her hair as his hands stroke up and down her arms. "We're better than to let this get to us. We're stronger than this."

As she exhales an enormous sigh of relief, Betty collapses into his chest once again. He is quick to hold her tight and close, reassuring her that he's right there as she mumbles the same thing over and over into him, her words being muffled into him...

"I love you, Jughead. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"I know. I'm sorry, too. I love you" he says as he holds her tight and close, continually returning her apologies and declarations of her love over and over again.

The two of them stay like this, standing there, holding each other and reassuring each other for a long, long time before Betty slowly tears herself away from where her head is resting against her husband's chest. She slowly looks up at him with her tear-filled eyes that break his heart as she prepares to speak up and divulge her fears to him if they're going to be able to start afresh properly.

"Jug, there's something else, too...The more that I think about it, the more I'm not sure if I've made the right decision by telling the Clayton's that I'll try to let them be involved in Emi's life. That's been weighing on me too because I just don't know... I know I should have talked to you first, Jug. We should have discussed it together. I'm so sorry that I went ahead without you."

Jughead just gives her hands a little squeeze. The fact that she had seemed open to the idea of their daughter being involved with her biological grandparents had stung him. That was no lie and Jughead wasn't going to deny that. However, he also wasn't about to make things harder on her amidst her evident distress by labouring his own pain to further her guilt.

However, as he holds her hands within his, stroking them gently with his thumbs, Jughead does pose one question to her in a gentle, but serious tone.

"Why did you say anything to them about being involved with Emi in the first place, then?"

Betty inhales a long, deep breath before her green eyes find his blue, looking to him earnestly as she answers him with undeniable honestly, exposing her vulnerability at the same time.

"Because I'm desperate to find anything that will help, because, I'm scared. I'm terrified, Jug... I'm terrified that I'm never going to stop feeling the way that I do. I'm terrified that I'm never going to get over what Chuck did, even now that he's gone. I'm terrified that no matter what I try to do, that living with what he did to me is never going to get any easier."

Once again, fresh tears begin to fill Betty's eyes, crushing Jughead in the process at having to see just how deeply broken and pained she is from her ordeal.

So, he holds her tight. He hugs her. He reassures her over and over again that he's right there and that everything will be okay. That she'll be okay.

After a long time in his arms, Betty eventually speaks up, talking through her sniffles as she wipes away her tears to try and continue speaking.

"I just want to move on, Jug... I just want to try anything to move past it all, to be able to carry on with our own lives..."

However, once again, she is overcome with tears as she sobs into the comfort of him, releasing her raw pain into him as he holds her tight and close, trying to shoulder as much of the weight of the burdens that she carries as he possibly can for her.

Then, after a long time passes by with him just holding her, Jughead slowly begins to pull the hair tie out of her hair, trying to relax her as he strokes his hands through her hair soothingly. Leaning down just a little, Jughead gently leans onto Betty's shoulder as he speaks to her in a slow, consoling whisper, uttering the reassurances that she needs to hear to her.

"Let's just get through this, Betts. Let's focus on making it through this murder investigation, making it through high school and making it through the next few years... Let's get enough savings together behind us to just support ourselves, and then let's move away... Let's get out of Riverdale, let's get away from here... Let's go somewhere close enough to see how friends and family, but somewhere far enough away from here... We'll have a fresh start. No one will know our past, no one will know the stigma of Cooper perfection, and no one will know the burden of the Jones name. We'll make our own start, forge our own paths. We'll be the Jones family and we'll make a name for ourselves. Just me, you and Emi against the world..."

As Jughead whispers the words of reassurances to her, promising her of a better hope for tomorrow, for the day after and for their future, he simultaneously strokes and runs his hands through her hair, as the young couple pours their wholehearted hope into a happy, fairytale ending.

#

The following morning is a usual Saturday and the newlyweds wake up slowly, just before nine, after Betty had gotten a little more sleep after Emi's five thirty feed.

"I feel like I've barely seen you all week..." Betty sighs dramatically, leaning up to press a kiss to his lips.

It's true. Without even factoring in their separation from the night before, the two of them had spent almost the entire week apart between their predominantly separate classes, the trips to the sheriff's office, Jughead's after-school work at Pop's and Betty still trying to avoid the town as much as she can in the wake of Chuck's funeral. In fact, even before their night apart, Betty and Jughead would spend the majority of their days and nights apart before winding up in the same bed at the end of the day.

In hindsight, Betty realises that this can't have been doing wonders to their lack of communication, rather, only accelerating their marital issues.

As they break apart from their kiss, they continue to keep their voices low even with the house to themselves.

Then, with a little smirk curling on the corners of his lips, Jughead responds to Betty's original remark.

"Don't tell my wife, I've barely seen her all week either."

Betty rolls her eyes at his comment, followed by a smirk of her own as she continues to play along.

"Oh, that's all good... She can keep my husband occupied."

Jughead returns Betty's smirk two-fold as his strong hands pull her a little closer into him while she lazily runs her fingertips up and down his chest with a smile growing across her lips.

"Okay... So for those of you playing at home, my dad's out playing his Saturday morning round of golf, I haven't heard my mum get back from having coffee with a friend and our baby is still fast asleep..." she leaves a kiss on his neck before looking up to him with a questioning look and a devilish grin.

"Are you-" Jughead begins, before an eager Betty cuts him off a little too early.

"Propositioning you? Yes. Yes, I definitely am."

"Sure, I was going to say. Are you sure? I mean I'm always up for it, but I don't want to rush you... The night before last we weren't even sleeping in the same bed and now we most certainly are. I don't want to move too fast for you. I don't want you to feel like you have to."

Betty glances up to her husband with so much love in her eyes. She cups his head in her hands as she presses a soft, lingering kiss to his lips that tells him just how grateful and appreciative she is for him and his limitless care for her, never failing to put her and her feelings above his own.

Intimacy had been something that had taken a lot of little baby steps to find their way through and as a general rule, Jughead tried to leave initiation in her court.

"I am sure, thank you for checking. But, you know that I'll tell you if I'm ever even feeling a little bit unsure and I know that you'll listen to me."

The couple share a small smile as Betty shuffles over closer to her husband as he meets her halfway pressing his lips to hers. She deepens their kiss, as her hands slowly roam beneath his shirt, slowly scaling in order to pull it over his head. She nods at the look her gives her, smiling, as he returns the favour. Then, just after he flips them over, trailing kisses down her neck as he begins to hover above her, there's a sudden series of noises within seconds, all ending with their bedroom door flying open.

As Alice storms into her youngest daughter's childhood bedroom, she has not even a smidgen of the same level of mortification as the two newlyweds who are left scrambling in their bed as Jughead throws himself on top of Betty while she's yanking their quilt over them in a desperate attempt to cover themselves and each other.

Unfazed, Alice stands in the doorway beginning to chatter on, undeterred, about the reason why she's barged into her daughter and son-in-laws bedroom as the two of them lie there, panting with adrenaline as they hold their quilt up to their neck.

"Good morning! Now I'm going to the shops this afternoon. Is there anything either of you need? Well, apart from the obvious."

Juggling her utter disbelief that Alice is still standing there like she's oblivious, Betty and Jughead share a horrified look before she yelps out to her mother with wide and dilated eyes.

"Mum! Get out!"

#

After Alice walked in on them in a compromising position that morning, Betty and Jughead spent the majority of their day holed up upstairs, apart from when Betty quickly scurried downstairs to bring some food back up for them.

However, later that afternoon while Jughead is burping Emi after her last feed, Betty feels the dread in her stomach knowing that she needs to address what she and Jughead are so desperately trying to put behind them.

So, with a big deep breath, Betty makes her way downstairs, wringing her hands nervously the entire time as she walks through her home and finds her mother sitting in the lounge room, sipping a cup of tea with her nose in a book.

"Mum? Have you got a minute? Can we talk?"

Alice places her book down in her lap before turning her attention to her daughter, silently indicating for Betty to continue speaking without uttering even a single word.

Betty follows her mother's body language and prompts, taking a seat in the lounge opposite her, placing her own hands in her lap uncomfortably as she fidgets with her wedding band and engagement ring, twisting them around and around on her finger.

"So this morning... Look, I'm sorry that you caught Jughead and I-, uh, in a compromising position. We thought that you and dad were both out."

While Betty is riddled with nerves as she broaches the uncomfortable topic with her mother awkwardly, Alice is already a little bored at how the issue is being drawn out, just exhaling a sigh with a complacent roll of her icy blue eyes.

"You're newlyweds and I'm not sure if you realise that the house isn't quite as soundproof as what you might like to believe it is."

Betty blanches, looking down to the floor as she continues to twist the rings on her left hand from where she's seated on the lounge opposite her mother and averting her gaze as Alice continues to speak.

"You're married, Elizabeth. It's not really my place to tell you what you can and can't do anymore. Yes, you're still so young, but you're married and intercourse is a normal and natural part of being in a mature relationship. While hopefully we can avoid having anymore encounters like this morning, all I'll say is that so long as the two of you aren't planning on giving Emi any siblings for quite a while, then what's the issue?"

Betty squints uncomfortably at her mother's blasé attitude that does not mirror her own whatsoever, feeling nowhere near as comfortable and open about the issue as the older woman is.

In fact, Betty isn't even quite sure of what to say to her mother in return, stumbling over her words before speaking in the form of a question.

"Uh, thanks for being okay about this?"

Alice just nods before returning to her book once again. In that moment, Betty loses her nerve ever so briefly, standing up and preparing to walk off and scrub any remnant or reminder of this morning out of her mind, welcoming the idea of leaving the matter to rest.

However, something stops Betty, realising that she has more she needs to say, as much as she might not want to. So, once again she interrupts her mother's reading in a low voice.

"Mum? Look... The point that I'm trying to make is that we need privacy. You know the locks on the bedroom and bathroom doors are hit-and-miss. But, if Jughead and I are going to make our marriage work living here, we need privacy. I know everything has changed really quickly, but it's not just my room anymore, mum. It's Jughead's too and we need that privacy, especially seeing as things have been a little rocky for us lately. We might be together or he might be getting dressed or just want some time out without you or dad blazing in unannounced. You didn't even knock this morning... Look, the point I'm trying to make is that I want Jug to feel comfortable because this is his home now too, mum."

Alice remains silent, her face neutral for far longer than Betty likes before she finally speaks up with a slow nod.

"I understand. The two of you have had more than your fair share of issues to contend with. So, if I can do something about making things a little easier on the two of you, I'll do my best to do it. I'll also talk to your father about looking into some new locks for around the house, too. But, I want Jug-head to know that he's welcome in our home and I hope that he feels like he is. He's a part of this family and like you said, this is his home, too."

#

"Your mum said what?" Jughead confirms in disbelief just moments after Betty finishes relaying the conversation she'd had with her mother after returning upstairs.

He's walking back and forth around their room, bouncing Emi in his arms as he attempts to settle her.

"You heard me... Face it, Juggie. You're one of us now."

Across the room, the young couple share a small smile, before Jughead's expression contorts to more of a smirk as he makes the comment that Betty is expecting.

"I'm an honourary Cooper now? Ooh, yikes. Maybe I should have thought this all through a bit better..."

Betty just rolls her green eyes at him, not rising to his tease.

"Watch it you... You were happy enough to marry one."

"Like I said, maybe I should have thought this through a bit better..."

Jughead's remark prompts Betty's initial offended little gasp, while his smirking grin that follows it is the reason why she has to fight back a giggle.

Then, as Jughead continues rocking Emi in his arms, trying to settle the baby down for her nap, Betty trails across the room to her desk, pulling out a few notebooks, sharpies and post-it notes as she begins scribbling away.

Earlier on that day, after their interruption, Jughead and Betty had decided that they'd go over all the information that they know of surrounding Chuck's death together, trying to uncover any gaps or potential leads to follow.

So, as Betty scrawls out the pieces of evidence, what they already know and the main suspects surrounding the investigation that all leads back to the name that churns Betty's stomach, Jughead stands behind her at the desk, watching on and reading as she writes while he rocks Emi.

Then as she pushes the lid of her sharpie back on with a click, Betty exhales an overwhelmed sigh as she looks among the information that they already have, glancing up to Jughead with a suggestion.

"Okay, maybe we should focus less on who has a motive because quite frankly I think that's the bone that Sheriff Keller is chasing and I hate the fact that that reduces it down to basically everyone in either of our families. Let's go with opportunity for a while instead and see where we get."

Jughead nods at her suggestion, quickly glancing down at his daughter in his arms, checking as to whether or not she has drifted off to sleep just yet before returning his focus back over to his wife and her notes.

"So who had the opportunity apart from the half of the town whose alibis are unknown?"

"I don't know... But, we have a few leads we can follow. Ethel said she came forward because she uses the walking track in the woods there near her house. We could ask her about if she saw or heard anything suspicious or out of the ordinary and we can ask if she saw anyone there on the day he was killed. Kevin is someone else who comes to mind. I don't know how much he goes cruising anymore, but I thought we could ask him the same thing and ask if he knows anyone who is there regularly who might have seen or heard something from that night."

Listening to Betty's tangent of thoughts and seeing her face fill with light and opportunity at her inspiration for leads to pursue in the new investigation brings a smile to Jughead's face. It reminds him of a whiteboard in the Blue and Gold office a little over a year ago, listing names, pinning photos and pieces of evidence to the wall. It almost feels like recapturing that same feeling a year on, the detective duo teaming up while balancing a baby on their hip this time around.

"Betts... It's just like the old days" Jughead smiles, looking over to Betty who shares his expression before he expands on his comment, pressing a kiss to the top of Emi's head. "Just with this one on our team now, too."

Betty smiles, reaching up and pressing a kiss to Jughead's lips before gently stroking Emi's back.

"I love you, Jug. We're going to find out who killed him. We're going to clear you and everyone else who has been wrapped up in this investigation."

After an exchange of smiles, Betty and Jughead return to their notes and investigative work, continuing to go over what they already know, along with what else they can try to pursue.

However, for the second time that day, the door on Jughead and Betty's bedroom door is burst open and they are interrupted once again. This time they are in a far less compromising situation, though this time it is in a far more dramatic manner.

This time, it's not just Alice Cooper who storms into their bedroom. Rather, it's Sheriff Keller, followed by a fellow sheriff and Betty's parents who linger behind in the doorway.

After all, the viewing of the seized CCTV footage taken outside of Pop's one morning around six months ago, showing Jughead throwing the first punches after Chuck dangled the carrot in front of him for long enough to make him snap, followed by showing FP breaking it up and then driving off with Chuck in the truck.

However, the incriminating evidence of violence was the last strike that the small town sheriff needed against Jughead, who was the focus of his investigation, having gathered enough evidence with the footage of both the fight, the footage of Jughead being caught walking around in town an hour or so before the murder and the fact that he had more motive than just about anyone else.

So, holding his breath, Jughead is instructed to hand Emi over to his wife, to move away from Betty and their baby and to put his hands in the air before cold, uncomfortable handcuffs are locked in place around his wrists.

"Forsythe Jones. You are under arrest for suspicion of the murder of Charles Clayton. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of Law..."


Three chapters left! Thankfully Bughead are back together, working together and are stronger than ever, despite Jug's arrest.

Thanks to everyone who is still supporting this story in the lead up to the end. I really hope you'll like the way the final chapters unfold.

However, I do want to inform you all that while the final few chapters are all finished, there may be a bit of a break between now and the next chapter. I've had a lot going on in my personal life and then there's been some drama and unnecessary drama on my other story which has left me feeling a little defeated. But, don't worry, I will absolutely post the remainder of this story.

Next chapter: As Betty struggles in the wake of Jughead's arrest, she pours all of her time and focus into her own investigation for the truth of what happened to Chuck.