Monday morning brings exciting news for Betty and she hopes Jughead will be excited about it too. Since freshman year she has been trying to get principal Weatherbee to allow her to start up the school paper again. The blue and gold was iconic back in the eighties but as technology advanced, faster means of publication became available and people, simply by lack of interest, let it die. Having a high interest in journalism, Betty had always dreamed of writing for the blue and gold, only to be disappointed when she entered high school. Only now, almost three months into her junior year, has Weatherbee finally given in to her constant inquiries.

"Jughead," Betty calls as she hurries to catch up with him in the hall. "Jug," she beams, grabbing him by the arms and nearly jumping up and down with excitement.

"Miss me or something," he teases, throwing an arm around her shoulders. It's an action he never would have dared attempt in fear of earning her dirty looks, but after reaching new physical heights yesterday and the fact that she is clearly excited to see him, he couldn't care less about the judgmental stares of his peers.
"Yes, but that's beside the point," she tells him with a playful glare as they walk into the student lounge for lunch. "Weatherbee is finally going to let me start publishing the Blue and Gold again! I want you to do it with me," she tells him excitedly.

"What? No. I mean, that's awesome. For you," he tells her, ducking his head nervously.

"Oh come on Juggy. You're an amazing writer, I know you'd love it," she gushes, hoping to stroke his ego a little to sway his decision.

"I don't know Betts. I don't really think people would appreciate my style of writing," he shrugs.

"I know you're writing a novel," she tells him and he stops dead in his tracks to look at her with panic in his eyes.

"What? No I'm not," he denies, blushing heavily.

Betty smirks, "Jug, you left me alone in your room, you really think I didn't do some snooping?"

"How did you even get into my laptop? I have a password," he exclaims, entirely baffled by what he's hearing.

"Your sister's name Jug? I mean, it's a good password, but I know enough about you to know she's the most important person in your life. It just makes sense that's what it would be," she shrugs.

Jughead gives a slow nod, "I can't even be mad because I'm too impressed by your Nancy Drew skills. How much did you read," he questions nervously.

Betty takes a seat on the couch in the lounge and pulls Jughead down beside her, "Enough to know that you are an amazing writer and I really need you. Please," she pleads, elongating her e's before pouting with her hands clasped innocently under her chin.

Jughead shakes his head and huffs a laugh through his nose, "Fine," he sighs, "but I'm editing my own work and you have to promise that nothing I write gets published unless I say so."

"Deal," she agrees, her bright smile beaming from ear to ear as they shake on it.

"Ooh, what are we excited about in here," Veronica gushes as she plops herself down elegantly between Betty and Jughead. Jughead still doesn't quite know what to make of the dark haired heiress. He knows she and Betty are best friends, but he finds their pairing odd, and Veronica is much too nosy for his liking.

"Weatherbee is finally giving me the keys to the blue and gold," Betty tells her with pride.

"Oh. Well, what does that dust old office have to do with Mr. Holden Caulfield over here," she wonders, eying Jughead curiously. Jughead only glares and she returns her attention to Betty.

"Jughead," she corrects, "is going to be working on it with me." The amount of excitement in her tone makes his ears burn. He'll never understand what it is about him that she likes so much.

"Ooh," Veronica calls out scandalously, "so you two will be alone together? For a whole class period? Without any supervision," she hints, wiggling her brows between the two of them. "Arch, move over, I'm getting hot and bothered by all the mutual sexual tension between you two," she laughs as she stands from the couch to sit beside Archie on the opposite arm chair.
Betty notices Jughead's subtle shift in his seat and catches the burn of his cheeks as he looks away.

"Veronica," she scolds, knowing Jughead is entirely uncomfortable discussing their sex life in such a public setting.

"What," she shrugs, "I'm only stating the obvious."

Jughead leaves the room, unable to stand Veronica's shameless insinuations any longer. Betty gives her a pointed glare before following after him.

"Jug, wait," she calls as she catches up to him in a few quick strides. Jughead stops and leans back against a locker near the end of the corridor. He lets out a heavy sigh and rubs his face in his hands. Carefully, Betty inches closer until their hips connect, placing her palms on his chest. "She was just teasing Juggy."

"I know," he tells her lowly as he brings his forehead to rest on hers. "Are we really going to be alone?"

"Yes," she grins, "I mean, I do have to admit, it was part of the appeal when I decided I wanted you to do it with me."

"Yea," he questions with a slight hint of excitement in his tone.

"Definitely," she tells him with a smile. "I'm sorry about Ronnie. She has no boundaries when it comes to sex. I can talk to her if you want."

"No. I mean, it's fine, I just I don't know, felt weird about her talking about it so loudly," he admits with a laugh through his nose. "If you want to talk to her about that stuff its fine. I don't care if she knows, I just don't really want the whole school to know what we do together."

"I couldn't agree more. I don't need any of these skanky bitches coming to snatch you away if they find out how incredible you are with your tongue," she teases, capturing her lower lip between her teeth.

Jughead smirks, "Not a chance."

Betty kisses him softly on the lips and his hands settle on her hips to hold her in place. With everyone at lunch, the halls are empty and Jughead grows bold, deepening her gentle kiss to something more needy. His tongue darts out to play along her lower lip and Betty's quickly joins in. Her lips travel to the sensitive skin beneath his earlobe and it sends a shiver down his spine.
"Betts, no," he chokes out as she palms his semi through his jeans, "We have to stop," he chuckles between kisses.

Betty whines in defiance, "but Juggy," she complains, elongating her 'y' as she pouts her lip.

"Later," he promises, fighting a smirk as he pries her fingers from the waist of his jeans.

"Ok fine, I can wait thirty five minutes," she shrugs as she backs away from him.

"Thirty five minutes," he questions as he adjusts himself in his jeans.

"Yea," she shrugs and he looks to her in confusion. "In thirty five minutes lunch is over, which means free period," she tells him as if it should be obvious.

"Ok? What does study hall have to do with this," he wonders.

Betty sighs, "Oh Juggy. Free period is when we'll be working in the blue and gold office from now on." She can see the lights go on in his thick head as he realizes what she's insinuating.

"Oh, right," he nods, lifting his arm to rub at the back of his neck.

"Relax jug," she giggles, "I'm just teasing. We don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Besides, that room needs a good deep cleaning before we do anything too drastic," she laughs. "Let's go get Pop's," she suggests suddenly.

"What," he questions, unsure he heard her correctly.

"Pop's. You know, like food, for lunch. We can bring it back and eat while we go through stuff," she suggests.

"Uh ok. And how are we getting there," he wonders amusedly.

"Your bike," she says simply.

"My bike," he laughs in surprise, "You trust me enough to get on the back of my bike?"

"Of course I do," she smiles, "now are we going or what," she calls as she heads for the front doors of the school. Jughead shakes his head, forever surprised by the enigma that is Betty Cooper, before following her out.

They make it back to the school with five minutes still left before the end of lunch.

"That was terrifying," Jughead laughs as he helps her off the back of his bike, paper bag in hand.

"Terrifying? It was amazing! You're taking me out for a real ride sometime," she tells him as she steadies herself and the two milkshakes clutched in her elbow.

"Your mom is gonna murder me," he laughs nervously.

Betty smirks, "Yes. Yes she is."

Just outside the blue and gold room, Betty passes off their milkshakes to Jughead who balances them carefully as she digs out the key to unlock the door. The opening of the door stirs up dust and it dances like snow flurries in the sun.

"Wow, it's-"

"Incredible," Jughead exclaims as he steps past her to set their bag of food and drinks on the old desk in the middle of the room.

"I was going to say dusty," she laughs, "but yea, that too."

"There's so much history in here," he beams as he rifles through a drawer of old blue and gold issues.

"I didn't realize you were such a history buff," Betty teases as she comes to stand behind him, rubbing his shoulders as he peruses through articles.

Jughead groans, "man that feels good," he chuckles mostly to himself. Betty grins behind him and puts a little extra effort into it. "Uhm, I'm not so much a history buff as I have a love for weird old news. Like, look at this one," he points to an article with a picture of two Riverdale bulldogs laughing together as their escorted from the building by the sheriff in nothing but their school issued knee high socks, "The two football stars, pictured left, led officer Dunlap on a wild goose chase while streaking nude through the school Tuesday morning. Dunlap was unsuccessful in detaining either boy for nearly fifteen minutes and it was not until he called for backup that he was able to put an end to their mischief." He shakes his head and holds up the picture to Betty, "They didn't even blur it out, it's full frontal," he laughs, "I'm telling you, there's nothing greater than old new articles."

Betty smirks, "I knew you would love this."

"You know me so well," he grins, tilting his head back to look at her upside down. Betty leans down and gives him a soft peck on the lips.

"Not well enough," she tells him with an expression that conveys her need to know more about him.

"You know more than most Betts," he tells her as he continues to flip through the newspaper in his hands. Betty sighs and moves back over to the desk to pull out their meals. She hands Jughead his two cheeseburgers and sits down in the old leather desk chair, sipping on her vanilla milkshake. She watches him with a smile on her face as he flips through newspapers and devours his burgers.

"Do you have any old journals," she wonders suddenly.

Jughead looks up from his paper, cocking a brow as he swallows down his last bite, "uhm, a few. Why?"

"Can I read them," she asks hopefully.

He shrugs, "I dont know Betts. I know I let you read my newest one but, it's different."

"How so," she questions with honest curiosity.

"There's just a lot of stuff that I try not to think about in them. I'm not sure if I want you to know everything," he admits, dropping his eyes from her gaze. Betty gets up from her chair to kneel down in front of him. She takes his paper and trash from his hands and sets it aside to interlock their fingers.

"Nothing could ever change the way I feel about you," she tells him with one hundred percent certainty.

Jughead nods slowly, "I want to believe you."

"But you can't because too many people have let you down," she gives him a soft smile, "I understand Juggy, I do. I won't ask to read them again, ok? You can tell me whatever you want to tell me when you're ready. I'm sorry for prying."
"Thank you," he says in a hushed tone as she places an apologetic kiss to his knuckles.

Ping

Ping

Ping

Grumbling to himself, Jughead digs his phone out of his jacket pocket.

"Dammit," he curses, wiping his hand down over his face, "Betts, I have to go."

"What? Now," she questions, wondering what could be so urgent he has to leave school.

"Yea," he nods, "I'm sorry. I really want to help you get this place running, but I don't really have a choice," he tells her regretfully.

"What do you mean you have no choice," she scoffs.

Jughead raises a brow that says "think about it" and a lightbulb goes off in her head.

"Oh," she mutters before nearing the doorway to meet him. She looks up at him with a torn expression and kisses him with every ounce of what she feels for him. "Be safe," she whispers as she pulls away, leaving Jughead breathless against the door frame. His head is screaming at him to say those three words that mean everything to him, but he's unable to find the courage. Instead, he nods in reply and leaves her there in the blue and gold to wonder when and if he's coming back.

Betty spends the rest of free period cleaning up the old office space. By the time the bell rings, it looks as immaculate as any old classroom possibly could and Betty locks it up feeling successful. She hardly pays any attention in her last class of the day and Vixen practice is a wash. With her mind preoccupied, wondering what Jughead is getting up to, she manages to get on Cheryl's bad side and earns herself a seat on the bleachers for the upcoming halftime show this Friday.

As she walks home in the frigid autumn evening air, she pulls her jacket tighter around herself. Her ears perk up at the sound of a motorcycle pulling up behind her.

"Hey blondie, need a ride," asks the dark haired guy who most definitely isn't Jughead.

"I'm good," she clips and picks up her pace. He rolls along easily at her pace, walking the bike with his feet.

"Yea, he said you might say that," he laughs.

"Excuse me," she scoffs, shooting him a glare.

"Jughead. He told me to pick you up. You are Betty Cooper right," he questions, actually seeming to be a bit uncertain.

Betty stops and scrutinizes him with her stare, "how do I know you're not just some creep who happens to know I hang out with Jughead?"

The dark haired guy laughs again, "Well I know you're definitely doing more than hanging out given he actually asked for advice rather than me just giving it at random. Also," he points to his neck where the Southside Serpent's emblem is tattooed boldly on his skin.

"So you're a serpent? Doesn't mean I should trust you. Who even are you," she asks incredulously.

The dark haired strager sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of his nose, "Alright, let's start over. Hi blondie, I'm Sweet Pea, Jughead's one and only friend, may as well be his brother. Our boy has asked me to collect you while he is dealing with, well, dealing. Now are you coming or what?"

"Jughead's dealing? What the fuck is he doing that for," she scoffs.

"Seriously? That's all you took from that," he huffs, "he's a serpent, of course he's dealing, it's kind of a given. If it makes you feel any better, I hate that he's doing it too."

"It doesn't, but thanks," she says with a saddened grin before getting on the back of his bike.

Betty's stomach swirls with anticipation and uncertainty as they pull up to the Whyte Wyrm. She takes Sweet Pea's offered hand to steady herself as she gets off of his bike, then follows him inside, standing surprisingly close for having only just met him. She figures at the very moment he's her only safety in this place and she's sure as shit going to stay by his side. As they walk inside, it's like something straight out of a movie. Every eye in the place turns to land on her. Some gazes are almost disgusted with her, others look as though they want to do disgusting things to her. Her blonde hair and white keds stick out like a sore thumb among the lot of rough, leather clad men. Hoping to make herself a bit more invisible, she clutches onto Sweet Peas arm and tucks herself slightly behind him.

"I'm not gonna let anyone mess with you blondie," he laughs, "Most of these guys are all bark anyways. You want a drink?"

"Oh my god yes," she chuckles nervously.

Sweet pea bangs his fist against the bar top, "Hey T! Make the girl a drink huh, a strong one," he shouts to the pink haired bartender with a wink towards Betty whose still clutching his arm.

"I don't know when Jug's gonna be back. Should be soon," he shrugs, "Fair warning, he's going to be pissed that you're here."

"Wha- you said he told you to bring me here," she argues, glaring at him.

"Well, technically I said he told me to pick you up. He wasn't exactly specific about what to do with you afterwards, but I've been dying to get to know this hot blonde I keep hearing about." The grin that curves his mouth gives way to the obvious pride he's taken in his purposeful misinterpretation of Jughead's request.

"Well, this hot blonde thinks you're a dick, so you're not doing very well," she clips.

"Ooh, you are cute," the pink haired bartender purrs, biting at her lip as she hands Betty a drink as pink as her hair.

"Leave the poor girl alone, she's not into you," Sweet Pea laughs, earning an eye roll from the small serpent girl.

"I'm Toni," she offers with a smile, "and you're right, Sweet pea is a dick, but he's really a softy once you get to know him."

"I am not," he scoffs, "I'm a hardened, tattooed criminal thank you very much,"

Toni laughs, "dude, you have one tat and the worst you've ever done is stab some douche that totally deserved it."

"Fuck you," sweet pea laughs and Betty can't help but find their banter amusing.

An angered, though familiar voice booms through the bar, "Pea!"

"Shit," Sweet Pea mutters under his breath as he ducks his head before turning around to face the voice.

"Hey. Jughead. How was the run," he asks casually as he walks towards Jughead to meet him a few paces from the bar.

"Don't fucking 'hey Jughead' me asshole. What the fuck is she doing here," he clips, angrily gesturing towards where Betty is looking on from the bar. She's not at all surprised that he's mad, and watches the altercation between the two boys as she sips her much needed drink.

"You told me to pick her up," Sweet Pea shrugs innocently.

"And bring her fucking home, not here," he shouts, knocking Sweet Pea back with a hard shove to his chest. As the boys grit their teeth at one another Betty hurries from her seat to interject.

"Enough," she clips as she pushes a palm against each boy's chest. "Pea, over there," she orders, directing him toward the bar. Sweet Pea holds his hands up in surrender and walks away. "Jughead," she addresses as she grips his biceps, "calm down. I know you're not happy that I'm here, but I am and we're not going to make a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be."

Jughead glares down at her, his nostrils flaring as he takes in hot angry breaths, "did he touch you."

"What? Of course not," she tells him, completely baffled by his question.

"Did he try," he grits.

"No Jug. Where is this coming from," she wonders, dropping her arms from his to cross them defensively over her chest.

Jughead palms his face and groans his frustration into his hands, "I don't know."

"Alright. Jug, we're leaving," she tells him as she takes his wrist to pull him along to the door. "Take me to your dad's trailer."

"What? No," he argues, tugging her to a dead stop mid stride.

Betty sighs, "Look, you're obviously exhausted and I know you don't want me hanging out here. We can either go back to Archie's or risk my mother realizing I didn't go to Veronica's after practice, or we can go to your dad's and be alone. Your choice Jug."

Jughead goes through a whirlwind of emotions before settling his brow into a defeated scowl, "fine," he grumbles before storming out ahead of her. Betty sighs, then turns to wave a quick goodbye to Sweet Pea and Toni before following him out.