Jughead's pov
So much changed in that next week.
JB and Chelsea were staying at our house, JB unable to stay at her house where everything reminded her of Alex. She wanted to sell the house as well, and we had all helped her clean it up. By the end of the week, it was on the market and ready to be sold.
Grayson was sleeping in Everett's room, JB and Chelsea in Grayson's, and Mark, Preston's dad and Jake, Preston's brother were still crashing in our guest bedroom. Preston was in Juju's room, on the floor in a sleeping bag. Except this weekend Juju was with Archie, so Preston slept in her bed.
"Betts, this is getting ridiculous," I tell Betty one night as we make dinner together, watching Mark yell at the TV as he watches a football game. "He can't stay here anymore. Preston I'm fine with, but his dad's gotta get out of here."
Betty sighs, running her fingers through her hair. "I know, I know," she says.
"He needs to leave by tomorrow afternoon, then we can clean the room and JB and Chelsea can have it, and Gray can be back in his room," I say.
"Speaking of rooms," Bettys says, "we need to start doing something for the baby's room. We have that extra room, so we'll put them there, but we have nothing except a little clothing. We need-"
"We've had three kids, I know what we need," I tell her, smiling softly. She smiles too. "I'm gonna go tell him now," I say, and walk to the couch.
"Oh, Jughead, hey man, what's up?" Mark asks, pausing the TV.
"Mark," I start. "I'm really sorry to have to do this, but you know, my sister, her husband just… and we really want to give her and her daughter some more space, and-"
"Ah, you're kicking us out," Mark says, nodding.
"Oh, don't think of it as that," I reply, feeling embarrassed.
"Nah man, you're fine! No, I totally get it," says Mark, grinning. "Hey, is it okay if we stay one more night, you know, then we'll be out of your hair before lunch tomorrow."
"Thanks, Mark, I really appreciate it," I say, relaxing.
"No worries! Oh, and thanks for letting us stay here like you did, that was real nice," Mark says.
"Oh, it was nothing," I say, wanting to get away from him. "I'm- I've gotta go help finish dinner, it'll be in about fifteen minutes."
"Alright, we'll see you then," Mark replies.
I walk back to Betty.
"Is he leaving?" she asks immediately.
"Tomorrow by lunch," I reply.
"Thank god," Betty says.
"I know," I reply, grinning.
Juju's pov
When I get back to my house after spending the weekend with Archie, it's less crowded. JB and Chelsea are in the guest bedroom, Grayson is back in his room, and Preston, Jake, and his dad are out.
A little while after getting home, I get a text from Preston.
'meet at the park?' it reads.
'sure' I reply.
I pull on shoes and walk to the living room, where my mom is. "Mom, can I go to the park with Preston?" I ask.
"Sure, but answer when I call and come home when I tell you," Mom replies.
"Of course," I say, smiling. "Bye!"
"Bye," Mom says, laughing.
I walk to the park, where Preston is sitting alone on a bench.
"Good, you're here," he says, standing up.
"Hello to you too," I reply, raising my eyebrows.
"Right," Preston says.
"So, why'd you want to meet?" I question, sitting on the bench. Preston sits next to me, and we turn to face each other.
"I need a favor," he says slowly.
"What kind of favor?" I ask.
Preston opens his mouth and sighs, shutting it again. He closes his eyes, and says, "Can I stay with you?"
"Like you were before?" I ask, confused.
"Yeah. You know how my mom is out of town, visiting her sister all month, well my dad got us a room at that motel on the edge of town, and it's terrible. I was wondering if I could come back to your house. Just me, not my dad or Jake," Preston adds.
"I… I don't know. My parents just had you leave, I don't think they want anyone else staying there right now," I say.
"Juju, please," Preston begs.
"Maybe… maybe if my parents didn't know…" I say slowly.
That was how Preston ended up living in my bedroom.
We snuck him in through my window, and I cleared a space in my closet out for him to sit in when my parents came in. Grayson and I had a Jack and Jill style bathroom, each with our own closed off toilet and shower but with a shared bathtub and sink, so Preston taking a shower or going to the bathroom wasn't a problem. He slept in my bed with me so we didn't have to clean anything up in the morning, and around midnight each night I would sneak into the kitchen and get him food.
Sometimes I got him fruit or vegetables, sometimes trail mix, sometimes a small, unnoticeable amount of dinner leftovers. Whatever was available, really. The first night, I took a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter, and that was Preston's main meal. I would pretend to get water for myself, and give it to Preston instead.
The first night. It was strange.
"Are you sure your dad won't worry about you being here?" I had asked Preston.
"Yes, I'm sure. I told him I had gotten a friend to let me stay with them, but they only had room for one person, remember?" Preston had replied. "I didn't even mention a name. You're not going to be caught, and it's only for two and a half weeks until my mom gets back."
That weekend was my mom's ultrasound appointment.
"Dad's making me go," I told Preston the night before. "He says he thinks it'll be good for me."
"Parents," Preston said, sounding annoyed.
I sigh. "So you'll just be here alone for about an hour, since JB and Chelsea are going to be at those open houses at the same time," I remind him.
"I know, I know," Preston says. I've reminded him of this about ten times already today, scared something is going to go wrong.
"I recommend getting some warm food, and maybe taking a shower… oh, and do laundry. Just wash, you can let it air dry," I say.
"Juju, I know the plan, trust me," Preston says.
I take a deep breath, relaxing my shoulders. "I know. I just really don't want to get in trouble for doing this," I confess.
Preston sighs, looking at the ground. "I feel like a terrible friend," he says.
"Preston-" I say, looking at him in disbelief.
"I'm sorry for making you feel like you had no choice to do this. I can go back to my dad, it'll be fine." He brushes through his hair with his fingers, messing it up.
"Preston no," I say. "We've made it this far, we can't give up now." I meet his eyes. "And you're not a terrible friend. Your parents are the terrible ones. I know you would do this for me if the roles were switched, which is why I'm doing it for you."
Preston nodded, still not looking entirely convinced.
"Come on, let's go to bed now," I say, and we both climb under the covers, staying on opposite sides of the bed.
"Remember to-" I say to Preston as I tie my shoes.
"Juju," he interrupts. "I know."
I take a deep breath, and then smile. "I'll see you in an hour."
"See you then," Preston agreed.
We made it to the doctor's office right on time, and soon enough there was an image of my baby brother or sister on the screen.
"Jules, isn't that cool?" Dad asks. Grayson and Everett are excitedly listening to the doctor as he tells them what parts of the baby are where.
I shrug. "Sure, I guess," I say. It really just looks like a gray blob, but I don't say that to them.
The rest of the appointment goes smoothly, and I text Preston on the way home so he knows we're coming.
Somehow, it all went off perfectly.
"I can't believe nothing got messed up," I tel Preston.
"I know. I was expecting JB to be back early or something," Preston confesses.
"Me too," I say, laughing. I hear my cat, Lulu, meowing at the door wanting to be let in. "Get in the closet really quickly," I whisper, and Preston does as told. I let Lulu in, and she cuddles up on the floor between Preston and I.
"Only a week and a half of this left," says Preston.
"Thank god," I say, chuckling. Preston grins.
"It feels weird keeping this a secret from Callie though," Preston says.
"I know," I say sadly. "I feel like she'd tell your dad, and we can't risk him knowing in case he goes to my parents," I say.
"Yeah…" Preston says.
The next week and a half went well. Every day Preston would climb out of my window and run to where he couldn't be seen from the house. I would leave out the front door, telling my parents I was meeting Callie and Preston at the park. Preston would take the long way, coming from the side of the park he normally came from if he was with his dad, and I would go the way I always had. Nothing went wrong. Well, except one thing, but it wasn't on a walk to the park.
The Sunday before Preston's mom got home, my parents decided to take us to the beach, the one just an hour away from us. I was supposed to be with Archie that weekend, but he was out of town at a music convention. JB and Chelsea came as well.
When we got home, mom was doing laundry when she found one of Preston's shirts he had accidentally dropped on the floor.
"Juju!" she called from the living room.
"Yeah?" I call back.
"Do you know whose this is?" she asks me, holding up the shirt.
I try my best to keep a neutral face. "That's mine," I say quickly.
"It is? When did you get this?" she asks, looking at the plain, baggy, dark gray t shirt.
"Archie gave it to me," I lie, speaking quickly.
"Really?" she asks, looking curiously at it.
"Really," I say, taking it from her. "Thanks! I'll be in my room!" I tell her, and rush off.
"What happened?" Preston asks after I shut the door behind me.
"You left your shirt in the laundry room and my mom found it, I told her it was mine," I say.
"Now it's yours," Preston says.
"What?" I ask.
"You've gotta wear it to prove you aren't lying," Preston explains.
"It's your shirt," I say, handing it to him.
He pushes it back to me. "You don't want to get caught, right?" he asks.
"Yeah…" I say slowly, nodding.
"Then take it."
"I can't do that," I say, shaking my head. "How about I wear it once, then say I brought it back to Archie's, and I'll give it back to you."
"Fine, we'll do that," says Preston. "On another note, only three more days until my mom gets back."
"This has been the longest two weeks ever," I say, and Preston nods.
"I promise this won't happen again," he says.
"I know," I respond, grinning.
It was the last full day Preston would be at my house when the next thing went wrong. I was in the car with my mom on the way to the grocery store, because we were going to make cheesecake that night.
"You know, I got the strangest phone call from Preston's dad this morning," Mom says, nothing in her voice hinting that she had an idea of what was going on.
"You did?" I ask quickly, then clear my throat.
"Yeah. Something about how Preston had been staying with a friend for a while and he wanted to know if it was us," Mom says.
My heart starts racing. "Huh," I say, trying to think of a response.
"I told him I didn't know where he was, but that I'd ask you. You've seen Preston at the park, right?"
"Yeah. He didn't ever mention staying somewhere other than with his dad," I say.
"Hm. Well, I hope Mark finds out where he is soon," Mom says.
"Mm-hm," I agree, hoping Mark won't find out where Preston is.
I tell Preston about that conversation when I get home.
"Only one more night. Nothing is gonna go wrong," he says.
I bite my lip, hoping that's the truth.
Jughead's pov
Betty and I had stayed up later than normal watching a movie, and although Betty had been able to fall asleep, something had kept me awake.
I was thinking about how secretive Juju had been these past few weeks, barely allowing her door open for more than a second. It was strange for her, even now, because she was usually more social with us.
I hear a bedroom door open, and look at the time. Nearly one in the morning. Curious as to who is awake, I walk to the door of our bedroom and open it, peeking into the hall. A minute later, Juju walks back to her room, a few items of food in her hands.
"What could she possibly be doing?" I whisper to myself as I walk back to the bed.
I lay down, trying to fall asleep while my brain forces me to stay awake.
Around thirty minutes later, just as I feel myself slipping into sleep, it hits me. I sit up, shocked at my realization. Everything suddenly seems to be adding up, from the missing food, how secretive Juju was, the shirt Betty found, and the call from Preston's dad.
"Betty," I whisper, shaking her lightly.
"What?" she groans.
"I think I know what's been going on," I say.
"Huh?" Betty asks, sounding out of it.
I explain to her my theory, which wakes her up immediately.
"No… Juju wouldn't do that," she says, not sounding entirely convinced.
"There's only one way to find out," I say. "We've got to check her bedroom, right now."
"Are you sure this isn't just a side effect of watching a mystery before bed?" Betty asks.
"If Preston isn't in there, then that's what it is," I say. "But if he is…"
"Alright. Let's go spy on our sleeping daughter," Betty says.
The two of us creep out of our room and down the hall to Juju's. My hand hovers on the doorknob for a second before I turn it open.
The room is dark, so we walk to the end of the bed.
Once my eyes adjust and I can see the bed, I gasp. Juju is laying in the bed, of course, but next to her, with a few inches of space between them, is Preston.
"Oh my god," I whisper to Betty.
"Do you think he's been here for two whole weeks?" Betty asks, looking at me, her mouth staying open in shock.
"Who knows?" I ask.
"We should wake them up and see what's been going on," Betty says.
"Definitely," I agree. I walk so I'm on the side of the bed where Juju is sleeping and carefully brush her hair off her face. "Jules," I whisper. "What's going on?"
"Hm?" she asks, rolling over and into Preston. She gasps, her eyes fly open, and she meets my eyes, her mouth not completely shut.
"I can explain," she says quickly.
"Your mom and I would like to hear it," I respond, crossing my arms.