Author's Note: Just a quick thank you to all the amazing guest reviewers I haven't been able to reply to personally! It's always a treat to hear what my fellow Riverdale devotees think of the chapters as they go up, and the story over all. And Amaya, I'm glad you got a good laugh out of the ending on the last chapter. Next installment is below, and I have one more that should be up before the end of the weekend. Thanks again, all!
Chapter 44
Jughead hadn't wanted to sleep.
This would be his last night in Betty's bed for who-knew-how-long – quite apart from the distance, he had a distinct impression that he was about to become the focus of more intense adult supervision that had ever come his way before – and he wanted to savour every moment.
They were both exhausted, of course… wrung out with work and worry and waiting… far too tired to attempt anything more than lying quietly, restfully tangled together. But that was enough. It was more than enough… more than he'd ever dreamed of, actually.
So when Betty had raised her window, her sleepy kiss tasting like toothpaste, her much-washed flannel nightshirt like butter beneath his palms, and wrapped herself around him in bed, nestling into her accustomed space against his body as if she'd been carved to fit him, he'd fully intended to stay awake all night, drinking in every breath, every sensation… fortifying himself against a future of nights at the Fosters' in a bed her already knew would feel much too empty.
But nature and comfort won out, and he'd slipped into a deep and dreamless sleep mere moment after Betty's breath against his neck had settled into a regular and blessedly familiar rhythm.
And now it was morning, chilly and grey. The sun, late and sluggishly sullen in rising reminded him that winter was fast approaching… and confronted him with a dilemma.
On the one hand, he was loth to wake Betty. He'd been sincere the other night in the truck: she'd been amazing these past few days, blowing past all his preconceived ideas of what she was capable of… and he'd already been pretty convinced that she was the most impressively competent person in Riverdale, if not the state. She had, without question, earned a solid three days at least of sleep and self-indulgence. Of course, Alice would never sign off on Betty missing school, so that wasn't going to happen. But he was desperately reluctant to wake her one millisecond sooner than absolutely necessary.
On the other hand, he wouldn't be back tonight. He wouldn't walk to school with Betty and Archie this morning, wouldn't sit with them in the cafeteria at lunch, wouldn't endure a platitude-laden speech in the gym from Weatherbee at some point in the day, trying to draw moral lessons from Fred's shooting.
Jughead would spend today in the dingy halls, under the flickering fluorescent lights of South Side High. And when it was over… he'd walk to the Fosters' house to begin his new life. So leaving Betty without saying goodbye felt just as wrong as waking her when she was so desperately tired.
And then the decision was taken out of his hands as Betty stirred against him, her movements stirring him in other ways, now that he was rested enough to notice… and it was too late to act.
"It's too early," she grumbled softly into his chest.
"Too early for what?" he smiled.
"Everything," she answered, snuggling closer as she spoke.
"True," he replied. "Well… almost true," he amended. Are you completely sure it's too early for this?" and he rolled her atop him, kissing her thoroughly.
Betty responded enthusiastically and for several long moments, Jughead lost all track of time. At last, regretfully, he pulled back slightly, pleased to note her slightly dazed expression.
"Not too early for that," Betty agreed breathlessly. "Definitely not too early. In fact, I think the real issue here is that it's a little too late to explore that topic as thoroughly as it deserves."
Jughead nodded regretfully. "I really, really hate to say it… but you're right. I've gotta get back into Archie's room before Mary finds me missing; she's dropping me off at South Side this morning before she heads over to the hospital.
Betty nodded; she'd heard the plan being formulated last night. "And tonight, you're at the Fosters'," she added, her voice glum as she focused on the consideration that was most on her mind.
"Yeah," Jughead answered simply because, really, what was there to say?
"I hate that you're going to be so far away," Betty said almost fiercely, "and that you're going to that underfunded holding cell of a school. And I'm going to miss you like crazy at school today and back here tonight.
"But I'm not giving up on us, Jug. You were right: things are changing for us… but things are always changing in life. So we'll figure this out… and then we'll keep figuring it out. And when something else changes, we'll figure that out too. Because that's how it works. And we will work through it."
Apparently, Jughead reflected, there was rather a lot to say after all. But at the moment, he couldn't speak for the life of him. That little speech had encapsulated, so beautifully, many of the things he loved about Betty: her sweetness… her ferocity… not to mention the fact that she always, always listened to what he had to say, as if it mattered to her, as if it had value. And so hearing his thoughts on the separation they were facing handed back to him, in her own voice, choked him with emotion. His chest was weighted with the intensity of his love for her… his sharp determination to make her words true, to make this work… and his aching sense of loss at this closure to the golden weeks they'd shared since that first afternoon he'd climbed through her window.
"We will," he vowed as soon as he could master his voice. "Always."
"He actually said 'always'?" Veronica squealed, loudly enough to turn heads around the Riverdale High cafeteria. "As in, Severus Snape, Lily Evans 'always'? Swoon!"
Betty couldn't resist the smile tugging at the corners of her lips – she'd nearly melted with the very same thought when Jughead whispered that word in those last, precious moments before he left – even as she tried to temper Veronica's (and her own) enthusiasm. "As in, the word, 'always,'" she said, trying (and failing) to sound matter-of fact. "It's actually a commonly used, dictionary word. It's not like J.K. Rowling invented it," she disclaimed.
Veronica scoffed dismissively. "Right. Because Jughead is in no way notorious for peppering his conversations with literary references, both obscure and mainstream."
"Not to mention, you know he read those books," Kevin interjected.
"And you two read that book together, the summer you both had chickenpox. AND Jughead always identified with Severus Snape!" Veronica concluded triumphantly.
"How do you even know that?" Betty demanded, momentarily diverted by her disbelief.
"Girl, please," Veronica replied heavy on the attitude, "apart from a history of parental incarceration, the sum total of what Jughead and I have in common equals you. What else are we going to talk about?"
Before Betty could even begin to assimilate that information, Kevin interjected again.
"And now you have your very own 'always' moment," he said wistfully, before snapping back to his characteristic irreverence. "That does it! My next boyfriend has to be not only 'out,' but a writer. Or at least a reader. Or something.
"You know, Joaquin had that whole 'bad boy' Serpents vibe, but he was woefully ill-equipped with quotable quotes."
"Oh my God!" Betty gasped. "I haven't even told you guys! The Serpents stopped by FP's trailer Friday night… you know, after the Jubilee." Veronica and Kevin nodded. "They brought a jacket for Juggie… and he accepted it. Jughead," for once, she pronounced the nickname as her mother did, emphasizing both syllables, "is a South Side Serpent."
"Oh. My. God," Kevin breathed in awe as Veronica just looked stunned. "It's the Triple Crown!"
Betty shook her head in confusion.
"The bad boy, the brooding writing, and the reason God invented nudity," Kevin answered as if it should be obvious. "He's either the Triple Crown or the unicorn. Beanie being what it is? Yeeeah, I'm going with the Triple Crown."
"Good call," Veronica nodded.
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