Jughead woke with a gasp, heart pounding fast and breath short. He wanted to cry, he felt so miserable. Everything that happened to him at the prison- the pain, the exhausting, the fear- it was all coming back. But this, it wasn't coming for him. It was much worse.

It was coming for Betty.

He couldn't let that happen. He had to protect her. He'd take all the pain in the world for her, he deserved it. But Betty hadn't so much as killed a fly in her life. It was Jughead who should be hurt, not Betty.

A sob tore itself through his throat, causing FP to rush to his side.

That just made Jughead feel worse because he shouldn't have to worry about Jughead so much and he had done enough and-

He couldn't breathe. Everything was weighing down on him. The room was blurring, getting smaller and smaller. His shoulder began to throb, his throat closing in on itself and he couldn't move and everything was too much-

Until he saw FP.

Just seeing his father's face made him feel safe. But Betty was the one he wanted safe.

But through seeing his dad's face, he found himself able to breathe, his throat releasing its hold.

He sucked in a breath.

'Hey hey hey hey, Jug, breathe, okay? I need you to calm down, focus on my voice,' FP said in a low voice, engulfing him in a hug.

And that was enough. It was all Jughead needed.

It made him feel safe.

It had taken a while for Jughead's heart to stop pounding in his chest. And when everyone came back from their homes, he felt pretty exhausted, fighting once again to keep his heavy eyelids open.

He lost the battle again.

Betty woke as Veronica, Archie and Fred climbed down the ladder of the bunker. Sitting up from the old couch, she stretched before scooting over for Veronica who flopped dramatically onto the couch. Betty smiled at her antics and looked around.

He smile dropped.

There wasn't anything bad. Just… confusing.

FP (who seemed to be drifting off) sat on the bed with a sleeping Jughead in his arms. And if Betty didn't know better, she'd say there were tear stains on his cheeks.

Had she seriously slept through her boyfriend crying? FP should have woken her up, or she should have woken up herself. She wanted to be there for Jughead.

Betty helped Fred and Archie unpack everything. She noticed Fred stealing regular glances at the Jughead and Archie and Fred giving each other looks. But Betty didn't chastise them. They were all worried about Juggie. And Archie was right. Jughead was definitely going to be going through some trauma.

After they finished unpacking everything and Fred fell asleep on the couch, Archie, Veronica and Betty retreated to the farthest corner of the bunker to talk. They hadn't talked much since Jughead was rescued.

But Betty had really wanted to talk to Veronica about Hiram.

She wanted to see him.

It had taken a fair bit of persuading (A+ lazy writing here) but Veronica finally agreed to go see her father with Betty. Betty assumed she was mad at her father too. So, while Veronica told Archie, Betty grabbed her phone and waited at the ladder for Veronica. Archie had been told to tell everyone that they'd gone to see Mrs Cooper in case anyone woke up.

Veronica bid goodbye to Archie with a quick kiss before hurrying over to Betty. Archie waved.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I'm sorry for my lazy writing but I'm a lazy writer. -_- XD

Veronica and Betty took Archie's car. It hadn't been hard to steal his keys and the ride to the Pembrooke wasn't too long.

Hopefully, this went well.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= More lazy writing 3

It hadn't gone well.

Archie knew as soon as Veronica rushed down the ladder of the bunker, tears streaming down her face.

He knew because only Veronica rushed down. No Betty.

'Where is she?' he asked Veronica. He was worried out of his mind. Of course something went wrong.

'I don't know.'

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed the lazy writing. I'm so lazy today. And any ideas? Obviously Hiram has Betty and we gon' get some Juggie whump soon XD