Chapter 14 - …silence, like a cancer, grows…

If it weren't for almost being murdered by my prep school classmates, Betty's pregnancy, and the wide-release of our sex tape, then having my mother at my graduation ceremony would have been the biggest plot twist of 2020.

Unsurprisingly, she offered no information as to why she'd suddenly appeared at our house, apart from: "Really, Jug, you thought I'd miss your high school graduation?" It wasn't a bad excuse, but certainly not one that completely convinced me she wasn't up to something.

While I was always slightly on guard around her, I was conscious of the fact that I hadn't seen her in over a year - I wasn't about to give up the opportunity when she was standing right in front of me.

Jellybean was over the moon with happiness at our mother's presence. They'd kept in contact over the past year, but I knew from experience that sporadic phone calls and facebook messages have nothing on the real thing. No matter how badly she'd messed up, she would always be the person who raised us.

Of course, her return wasn't without immediate consequences… and her presence brought an influx of drama that was, quite possibly, even more explosive than that of the high school students surrounding her…

Betty adjusted her deep blue graduation gown - a difficult move to achieve while holding her newly received High School Diploma in one arm and Juniper in the other. "Mom, you're being ridiculous." She whispered to Alice. Juniper started to wriggle in Betty's arms, so Betty let her down and watched as she toddled over to Polly.

Alice flicked her hair off her shoulder, then inspected the lense on her camera. "This is an important day for you, Elizabeth. I'm not wrong for wanting to capture the memories." She held the camera up to her eyes and focused on Betty. "Now smile."

Betty rolled her eyes and smiled until the camera flashed. "I'm not talking about you taking photos, I appreciate those. I meant that you can't just avoid FP forever." Her eyes darted to the right - she thought she'd seen Jughead and his parents talking to Sweet Pea and his grandmother somewhere in the sea of graduates meandering the football grounds, but the hustle and bustle of the excited families at Riverdale High were proving to be a lot harder to see through than Betty liked.

"Elizabeth, I'm not avoiding FP." Alice's voice was level, but her eyes were strained. "Now can we focus back on you?"

Standing just behind Alice, Polly couldn't keep the mirth from her face as she said: "Yeah Betty. Mom's not avoiding her boyfriend. She's avoiding his wife." Betty couldn't hold in the breathy laugh she let out at the sight of the grin on Polly's face.

Alice's eyes narrowed as she turned to give Polly a disapproving look. "Honestly girls." She said with a huff.

Polly raised her eyebrows and shrugged. She adjusted Dagwood against her hip while simultaneously rubbing Juniper's shoulder. The little girl looked around herself, sucking her thumb as she leaned against Polly's legs.

Betty watched her sister interacting with her children. She seemed to be in her element, balancing her focus between keeping an eye on Juniper and bouncing Dagwood in her arms, all while still managing to pay attention to Betty and Alice. Polly was practically glowing with her long blonde hair stylishly held back with a bright red headband, and her lithe form accentuated by the belt at the waist of her yellow sundress. It was a relief for Betty to see how far her sister had come in the past year, considering how frantic and depressed she'd been when she'd first been admitted to Shady Grove.

"Congratulations Betty." Said a new voice, and Betty turned to her right to face Charles. She smiled as he handed her a beautifully arranged bouquet of blue and yellow roses that were held together by bright cellophane and ribbon.

"Aw, thanks Charles. You're too sweet." Betty said, smiling up at her older brother. He ducked his head and blushed faintly - a move that reminded her, surprisingly, of FP. "These are so pretty!"

"Hey, Charles." Polly moved closer towards them, holding an excited Juniper's hand firmly to stop her from wandering off into the crowd of students. She opened her mouth to comment on the bouquet Charles had brought Betty, but paused as she noted the other thing Charles was holding. "Ah… is that a cactus?"

Charles looked down at his hand. "Oh, it's a succulent, actually. An Echeveria Moon Gadnis - or Moon Goddess, colloquially." When the three women merely looked at him in confusion, he explained: "It's for Jughead… he just doesn't seem like the 'roses' type." Charles chuckled.

Alice smiled, her expression softening. "Too right you are, Charles. We'll have to find him so you can give it to him. He's probably with your father…"

Polly smirked at Betty, who shook her head in disbelief. Oh, so now that Charles wants to go find the Joneses, it's okay… mused Betty.

A flash of red out of the corner of her eye gave Betty a distraction from her family's insanity. The red turned out to be Cheryl's hair, and Betty's stomach rolled as she realised her cousin was talking to Veronica. Even from across the football field Betty could see the fake smile plastered on her best friend's face; she swallowed and hoped it would be enough to keep away her sudden onset of nausea.

Hours earlier, when they were taking their places in the gym to prepare for their graduation ceremony, Veronica had hugged Betty unenthusiastically, and answered Betty's: "Are you okay?" with a tight smile and a quick, "We can talk later, B."

Betty was filled with a guilt that sickened her even more than her pregnancy hormones…

The Cooper/Smiths didn't have to wait too long to see the Joneses, because Jughead - more energetic and smiley than he'd been all week - was already leading his parents and sister over to the group. He quickly pulled Betty in for a hug and pecked her on the lips; Betty was relieved to feel his arms around her.

"Hey graduate." Betty said, nudging his side as she shoved down her guilt and let the happiness she'd felt after graduating envelop her again.

It truly was phenomenal: the feeling of joy Jughead and Betty both felt after two straight weeks of stress and worry. Betty knew graduating would be emotional, but truthfully, she was expecting more tears than smiles (especially from herself).

"These are nice." Jughead noted, indicating to the flowers as he smiled down at her. "This is surreal. I keep wanting to pinch myself."

The two were so caught up in the excitement of graduating that they were momentarily oblivious to their parents' tense interactions…

"FP. Gladys. It's good to see you both again so soon." Alice said stiffly. She stood rigidly still, her hands gripping her camera so hard that Polly wondered if she should rescue the small machine before it was crushed in her mother's palms.

FP's eyes dropped down to his feet as Gladys smirked. "Likewise." She said casually, the amusement in her voice obvious.

The three parents stood awkwardly staring at anything but each other (well, FP and Alice were awkward, Gladys appeared to be having a great time), when eventually Polly couldn't take the silence any more.

She caught Jellybean's eye. "Um… hey, Jellybean right? I don't think I've seen you since you were a bit older than this one." She nodded her head to Dagwood, who was still happily settled in her arms.

Jellybean smiled politely - an odd deviation from her usual cheeky grin. "Yep, the one and only and you're Betty's sister? I've seen photos of you around the house."

Alice snapped out of her awkward stance. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? Gladys, you probably remember my oldest daughter, Polly? And this is my son: Charles."

Charles remained as calm and collected as ever as he politely greeted Gladys. Polly had always been able to read Betty's emotions like an open book, but her brother was still a complete mystery to her. Mysteries weren't Polly's area of expertise, however, so if there was anything wrong with Charles beneath the surface, she'd have to leave that up to her sister to figure out.

"Your son?" Gladys said, her voice a mixture of confusion. "I'm sorry, Alice, I didn't realise you and Hal had any more kids than the two girls." She attempted to hide the frown that wanted to spread across her face, and was only partially successful.

Betty - who had been staring adoringly at Jughead - stiffened as she overheard the mention of her dad.

Jughead had heard the comment as well; but rather than glaring at his mother in contempt for bringing up Betty's father (he'd leave that to Alice) his attention went right to his own father.

Did he not tell her about Charles?! Jughead's mouth almost dropped open in surprise at the realisation.

Alice gritted her teeth, but kept her expression neutral. "Yes, well. Clearly there's a lot you don't know." She turned her gaze towards FP, whose discomfort visually increased.

Gladys crossed her arms over her chest. "What's that supposed to mean—"

Jellybean sprang to action and spoke in a rush. "Charles! Let's go check out the snack table. They have those mini hotdogs you like…" she moved to pull her brother away, but was stopped short.

"Wait, JB." Alice said (Jellybean mumbled "Oh, God, why?" under her breath). "The five of you have never been in one place before… I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to capture the moment." She held up her camera.

Betty reached down to pick up Juniper, who'd made an escape from Polly's hand to run towards her aunt. It was a struggle while holding her bouquet, but Betty managed to scoop her niece up with almost as much grace as Polly would have. "Mom… I really don't think now is the time…" she said as she shared an incredulous look with Polly.

Dagwood started eyeing Jughead suspiciously, and Polly was thankful he hadn't tried to jump out of her arms and attack her sister's boyfriend just yet. She'd heard the story about him throwing a ball at Jughead's face, and wasn't in the mood for a repeat…

But before anyone else could argue, FP was enthusiastically encouraging Alice. "Great idea! That's a photo I definitely want in my office. And on one of the walls in the living room, maybe even my wallet…" he smiled sheepishly at Alice.

Alice raised her eyebrows and gave him a nod of approval. The five sort-of-siblings all grouped together, with the twins still in Betty and Polly's arms. Charles seemed a little stunned, and Betty realised with a start that posing for family photos must be a foreign concept to him.

Jughead let his eyes wash over his dad as he put an arm around Betty and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I'm gonna kill him." He gave his dad a chagrined look, and FP avoided eye contact. Charles had been in their lives for over a year, and his dad had known about him for even longer - surely the topic of his existence must have come up to his wife at some point?

"I think my mom might beat you to it." Betty whispered back, noting the way her mother was definitely not looking at FP and trying to pretend everything was perfectly fine. Betty smiled for her mother's photo, then leaned into Jughead again. "Actually, I think your mom might beat you to it."

Jughead watched as his mother's face bore a flicker of realisation - which quickly morphed into anger. Then, her expression became one of complete calm as she turned to face FP. Jughead wished he could hear what his mother whispered to Alice, but the crowd of graduates and families were loud, and his own parents were standing just out of earshot…

"Wow, Alice." Gladys whispered. "I've got to say, your son looks just like you. I can clearly see the resemblance between him and your daughters too."

Alice remained poised. "Thank you." She adjusted the lense on her camera and moved it back up to her eye.

Gladys turned to face FP and fixed him with a glare. "Not his eyes, though. Your daughters have their father's green eyes." Her voice turned into an icy calm. "Charles must have gotten his eyes from his father."

FP stiffened, but Alice kept her resolve. "He has blue eyes, like me, Gladys. Don't overthink it."

"Indeed." Gladys said simply, but there was a toxic venom in her words that gave her husband chills as she continued. "Almost… no, exactly the same shade of blue as our kids' eyes, wouldn't you say, FP?" Her voice held a deadly stability. "Your mother had those same bright blue eyes, too, right?"

Alice turned around and noted the excruciatingly uncomfortable look FP was giving his shoes. She wanted so much to give FP a piece of her mind, and even more to give Gladys something to bitch about - but not here. Not at her daughter's graduation ceremony. Alice turned back around and looked at the kids - the five had turned into each other to talk, and Charles was mildly smirking as he gave Jughead the Graduation Succulent.

She flicked some hair over her shoulder, and decided to ignore the drama unfolding behind her. It wasn't her place to interfere with the opinions of another man's wife, after all…

"Does Veronica know it was Betty yet?" Toni whispered to Cheryl as they watched Veronica leaving the school grounds. Her parents and older half-sister Hermosa, who was freshly returned from Miami, followed closely behind. Hiram appeared particularly proud, though it was disconcerting seeing the usually cool, dangerous man hunched over and looking pained.

Cheryl groaned and shook her head. "She's still adamant that she wants to hear it from Archie."

Toni frowned as she watched Veronica getting into her family's limo. "Gonna be hard for her to talk to Archie while she's in New York." She put her arm around Cheryl's hunched over form.

Cheryl nodded sadly and placed her head on Toni's shoulder. "I wish I could have convinced her not to leave. I hate the thought of her dealing with this alone…"

"She won't be alone. Isn't she staying with that friend of hers? What was her name… Katelyn?"

"Katy." Cheryl corrected. "But Katy's not from Riverdale… she isn't going to understand…"

Toni rubbed Cheryl's arm. "I'm sure she'll understand enough to comfort her friend's broken heart."

Cheryl opened her mouth to speak, but a loud voice interrupted her: "There she is."

Toni and Cheryl both jolted at the voice. They turned around, and noted a small group of people who Cheryl didn't recognise.

Toni, however, stiffened, and took a small step away from Cheryl. "Uncle Tommy…" She said in a strained voice.

Cheryl's eyebrows rose so high they almost reached her perfectly groomed hairline. Uncle?! She thought. I didn't realise Toni's uncle was coming. I thought she didn't talk to him anymore… as she thought, she noted the resemblance between this man and Toni. Their similar colouring, the shape of their eyes. Likewise, the younger two members of the group also shared similar features with Toni; in particular the girl, who appeared to be around thirteen, had almost exactly the same facial features, but had significantly more braids in her hair. The boy, who seemed no older than ten, reminded Cheryl of a small male version of Toni. Are these Toni's cousins? She wondered. Why has she never mentioned them…

An older man followed closely behind and stepped into Cheryl's line of sight - this one, she did recognise (from the one time she'd met him) as being Thomas Topaz, Toni's grandfather. The elderly gentleman had a formidable presence, but a cheerful smile spread across his face in opposition of the fierce aura surrounding him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Toni said, forcing her voice to remain steady. Cheryl turned her face to look at her girlfriend, and noted with a start that Toni appeared tense. Her whole body was rigid, and her face was contorted into a mask of feux calm.

"We came to see if the rumours were true." Tommy said, his face twisted into a snarl. The kids beside him took a step back, their faces watching him uneasily.

But Toni's grandfather shook his head and walked up to Toni and Cheryl. "Ignore him, and his shit. We came to congratulate you on graduating. First in the family! I don't think I've ever been this proud in my life." He opened his arms out, and Toni only hesitated for a moment before she was enveloping him into a hug. He pulled away and put a hand on her shoulder, then faced the other three members of the Topaz family. "Mercedes, Harley, this is what I want to see from you two in a few years. If you don't mess around in high school, you might even be able to go to college like your cousin." He smiled fondly at Toni.

Tommy rolled his eyes. "I don't care what they do so long as they don't become dirty, lying mutts like—"

"Tommy, what did we talk about in the car?" Thomas said fiercely, and Cheryl was struck with awe at how much regal power seemed to exude from Toni's grandfather.

The young girl - Mercedes, Cheryl assumed - stepped around Tommy to face Toni. "Toni, when are you coming home?" Her face seemed shy, and her voice held a vulnerability that pulled on Cheryl's heart.

"We miss you." Said the boy, whose name must be Harley. "It's not the same without you." He looked down at the ground as he spoke.

Toni's lips thinned into a line, and Cheryl felt, suddenly, as though she was intruding on an intimate family moment. "I don't live on the South Side anymore, guys… I'm sorry. But hey, I want you to meet my… friend, Cheryl."

Cheryl was taken aback. Friend?! Excuse me?! She felt like glaring at Toni in contempt - the audacity! - but she saw the pleading look on Toni's face, and decided to play along. "Nice to meet you Harley. Mercedes." She smiled at the kids. "You must be Toni's cousins, she's told me so much about you two." The lie slid out naturally, and only Toni noticed the hardening look in Cheryl's eyes.

"Really? I didn't think she would. She doesn't like us much…" Mercedes said sadly.

Toni's heart broke a little bit. "That's not true! You two are my favourite cousins. Who told you I don't like you?" She gave her uncle a piercing look.

Mercedes and Harley looked expectantly at Tommy, but he ignored the pair of them. "Cheryl Blossom, are you?" He said, turning to face Cheryl as her name spewed out like venom. "The Cheryl Blossom who, rumour has it, my dear niece has been living with?"

"Tommy, don't… " Toni said pleadingly.

Tommy raised his hands up to his shoulders. "Don't what, exactly, oh backstabbing niece of mine?" His eyes narrowed as he took in Cheryl's fiery red hair.

Cheryl took a protective step closer to Toni. "Yes, Cheryl Blossom. The one and only! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Wow, Antoinette. You're really shacking up with this genocidal rich-bitch over your own blood?" Tommy fixed his glare on Toni and his shoulders seemed to get bigger (though Cheryl wondered if that was her now-stressed mind playing tricks on her).

"Don't call her that!" Toni said, no longer able to fake the calm.

"What? A bitch? Genocidal? You know what her family did to ours, Toni." If possible, he seemed to become more and more frightening. "Her ancestors slaughtered ours, and now she lives proudly on our land, growing maple trees in the earth, fertilised with our family's blood."

"That's enough Tommy." Toni's grandfather said harshly. Thomas Topaz was fiercely proud of his Uktena heritage, but the mention of their slaughter always made him despairingly emotional. As such, Toni had learned there was a time and a place to bring them up - a lesson learned, ironically, from her uncle.

But Tommy apparently wasn't finished with his tirade. "Oh, there'll never be enough the Blossom's can do to bring back the Uktena." There was an angry sort of emotion in his voice, and Cheryl could see Toni was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

Thomas remained silent, though his cheerful expression was long gone.

"You're right." Cheryl said honestly.

Toni looked at her in surprise. "Cher…"

Cheryl's face set in determination. "You're right." She said directly to Tommy. "Nothing will ever be enough. I'm so sorry… I wish there was something I could do to ease your pain." She wanted to reach out and take Toni's hand, but focused instead on the two Topaz men. "All I can do now is support any actions the remaining Uktena make to honour their ancestors."

Toni smiled a small, tired smile that did nothing to hide the tears building up in her eyes. Thomas gave Cheryl a look of approval, then raised his eyebrows and focused his gaze on Tommy.

"Can we stop harassing Toni's friends now, son?" Thomas said, then without waiting for an answer, he continued. "I'm in the mood for a strawberry milkshake. Been a good while since I talked to old Pop Tate… my treat for anyone who wants to join."

Cheryl gave Toni an encouraging nod. There was a tense, awkward feeling in the air, and Cheryl knew from Toni's stories about her grandfather that her uncle bringing up the Uktena's slaying was only going to make Thomas Topaz needlessly upset.

The thought that she'd once actively praised and promoted General Pickens for his part in 'founding' the town of Riverdale made Cheryl physically ill. Her girlfriend's family, her people, her culture - were nearly wiped out by the Blossom ancestors. It was moments like this one that Cheryl was reminded of how much she hated the fact that the Blossoms were involved with an act as atrocious as the murder of hundreds of people. I shouldn't be surprised, she thought darkly, murder runs deep in the Blossom family…

Betty phoned Veronica three times.

Once when she first got back to Thistlehouse, and was able to sneak into the bathroom and away from her mother's watchful eye. Again while she boiled a pot of water in the rarely-used Blossom kitchen, while her mother and sister waited for her to make camomile tea. And once more after Toni and Cheryl returned home, looking significantly stressed but still providing a much needed distraction for her family (the twins were especially excited to continue with the graduation celebrations that neither of them fully understood).

Veronica didn't answer.

By age seven, I was used to my parents screaming at each other. Usually I knew why (they were never very good at sugar coating it): oftentimes it was because my dad was drunk again, or my mom was being too hard on us, or they had no money, or the serpents were asking too much of my dad - didn't they know he had two little kids to look after? He couldn't risk going to jail again…

Of course, Mom and Dad didn't start fighting right away when we got home from the graduation ceremony. I had time to re-home the succulent Charles got me, choosing to place it on Betty's bedside table where the sun shone through the window, while dad ordered a celebration pizza from Little Cicero's. And the conversation was oddly pleasant for most of the night. Pleasant in a way that was almost too perfect for the imperfect Joneses.

But of course, when the sun was set and our stomachs were full of pizza, I heard it: the arguing.

It wasn't quite like the old days, when me and Jellybean would hide behind the couch in the trailer or flea the premises altogether. It was even more disappointing, because they went down into the basement where they thought we couldn't hear them. Maybe Jellybean couldn't, since she'd gone upstairs wearing her headphones, but from my temporary home on the couch, I could hear the accusatory words, and the almost shouts, and the "Please, Gladys, I don't want the kids to hear…" and the "For God's sake FP, talk to me like a normal person, not a fucking North Side foney…"

Of course, there was one thing that travelled up the staircase that was louder than everything else they were mad about.

"You're a guilt-tripping, manipulative liar!" Gladys was officially at peak anger, Jughead could tell, even though her words were muffled by the closed door of the basement and the distance between their positions in the house. "You told me she got a fucking abortion!"

Jughead felt his throat squeezing involuntarily.

"Gladys… you don't understand." FP's voice was less angry, and more sad.

But Gladys was still infuriated. "What's not to understand? That blonde haired, blue eyed FBI Agent that was hanging around our kids is clearly your son. Are you going to stand there and pretend that he isn't?"

"No, he is. He is mine." FP said quickly.

"Then what? You just decided your wife didn't need to know you had other kids running around Riverdale? Did you just forget to mention him?"

"I didn't know…"

"So she lied to you?" Gladys' voice lowered in volume but not anger. "She lied about your son and you just got over it and let her and her daughter live in our house? You're going to let a liar be around JB?"

"Keep your voice down!" FP's frustration was obvious.

Jughead didn't want to listen to their argument anymore - not only was it harshing his graduation buzz, but it was starting to bring back dark childhood memories. But he couldn't help but pause as he processed the last of his dad's words that he could hear:

"I didn't lie to you… my ex did get an abortion… but I wasn't talking about Alice… I didn't know she was pregnant, Gladys, I swear…"

Jughead stiffened and almost ran out the back door.

He wanted to climb onto the roof, as he did the weekend previously, but the ladder was locked in their shed and he had no idea where his dad kept the keys. He settled instead for laying back on the cool grass outside.

Maybe if he stared at the clear sky long enough, he could pretend that if he reached out his hands he could touch the flickering stars. Maybe the dark abyss would swallow him and he wouldn't have to think anymore…

"Jug, what are you doing out here?"

Jughead opened his eyes. Did I fall asleep? He wondered as he looked up at his mother. The night was now pitch black, and the stars had completely overtaken the sky behind her. "I'm embracing the soundless ambience." He said. He sat up slowly and placed his hands on the grass behind him.

Gladys huffed and sat down next to him. "You haven't changed one bit." She smiled fondly at him and reached over to ruffle his hair.

He resisted the urge to pull away from her touch. "Yeah well… neither have you." He frowned slightly, unable to keep the annoyance from his voice completely.

Gladys sighed. "I'm sorry, Jug…" she sounded genuine, but Jughead was immune to her apologies. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough to know that Dad apparently got more than one person knocked up in high school." Jughead remarked flippantly.

"Shit, Jug." Gladys ran a hand through her hair. Neither of them spoke for a minute, and Gladys eventually reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. Jughead raised his eyebrows as she placed one in her mouth and offered him the packet.

He shook his head and let out a laugh. "I think Betty would handcuff me to a door if she found out I tried smoking."

Gladys smirked as she lit her cigarette. "Hmm… I dunno, that doesn't seem like much of a punishment." She took a long drag, and contemplated his statement. "From what I heard, you'd probably like that."

Jughead paused and stared at her in shock, then as her words caught up with him he groaned and looked straight ahead. "You heard about the video."

"Oh yes, I heard." She stated, her voice hardening.

"How?"

Gladys reached back into her pocket and pulled out a small touch screen phone. She took another drag as she scrolled through her messages. She cleared her throat and read from her phone screen. "Hey mom. I hope you're coming home soon. Jughead is in some seriously deep shit. He has a sex tape with Betty from when she was seventeen and its spreading through Riverdale like an STD." Gladys looked up at Jughead for a moment then continued reading. "Hey mom. False alarm. Sort of. Jughead totally just dodged jail but I'm pretty sure he's in even deeper shit with Betty now."

Jughead tensed up. "Jellybean."

"Ah huh." Gladys grumbled sarcastically. "At least one member of this family keeps me informed."

"Look, Mom…"

But Gladys cut him off. "Hey again mom, I hope you're getting these messages. You won't BELIEVE - and yes, JB typed that word in capital letters, Jug, so she was being very serious - what happened today. Dad grounded Jughead for drinking. Actually grounded him! I've never laughed so hard in my life." She pursed her lips as she read out the final message, her tone becoming a lot more serious. "Hey mom. Jughead had a panic attack at school today. Dad said I'm not allowed to harass Jug about it but I think he needs help. I'm really worried about him. Please come home."

Jughead looked down at the ground, feeling entirely unsure of himself. "I knew you coming for my graduation was bullshit."

"It is not bullshit. I came here for you Jug. In more ways than one." Gladys said cryptically as she put her phone away. "Alright kid. Hit me with it." She adjusted her jacket and sat up straighter. "Give me all the gory details."

Jughead shuffled around so he could face her. "I'm not sure you want to know."

"I'm all ears." She stubbed out her cigarette on the grass. "I have a whole carton of these out in my van and fifteen hours before I have to leave."

"Your van?"

"A blue Combi. I've been living in it temporarily - easily movable, hidden in plain sight, fully stocked, and multiple secret compartments. It's such a sweet ride. I bet your girlfriend would love to get her hands under the hood." She smirked. "You can show it to her if Alice Cooper lets her come out of hiding."

Jughead let out a single laugh. "She goes by 'Smith' now. Doesn't want to be associated with Hal anymore."

Gladys shrugged. "Well, she shouldn't have had kids with someone she didn't want to be associated with forever."

Jughead raised his eyebrows. "Pot calling the kettle black, there, don't you think?"

"Hey, your old man's alright." Her lips smoothed into a line. "Been a better parent than me lately."

"That's not what you were yelling at him before…" Jughead muttered.

A guilty expression crossed over Gladys' face. "I am sorry you heard that…" she frowned. "I was really angry at him for hiding things from me… not just your secret older brother, by the way, but the fact that you faked your death? He should have called me about that, but I had to hear it from Alice Cooper's news documentary. And that's messed up."

For the first time in a long time, Jughead could agree with his mother.

"Look, I think you're old enough to know that me and your dad… we have our differences."

Jughead rolled his eyes. "You don't say."

She ignored him. "And we've both made a lot of mistakes in raising you two. There's some bad blood between us now, on both ends, and I don't think there's any way we can fix it."

Jughead nodded quietly. It's not like he expected his parents to get back together, not really… but still, he felt a twinge in his heart as he felt the last ember of hope flickering out for the Jones family.

"I would have needed to come to Riverdale sometime soon anyway, because I have some legal stuff to sort out with him. And I hope that it'll mean you and your sister are better off."

Jughead's eyebrows knitted together. "Legal… you're getting divorced?"

"No, Jug." She shook her head.

"But… you just said - no fixing it." His brain swam with confusion.

"I'm sure your dad will explain it all to you later… but right now, I just want to hear about this 'deep shit' you're in with Betty." Gladys nudged his shoulder with her own. "And no more sidetracking and avoiding the topic." A smirk flickered across her face and she raised an eyebrow. "Did she catch you hooking up with Archie or something?"

"Oh, my God, no Mom. Geez." Jughead put his head in his hands. "Why are you so convinced I have a thing for Archie?!"

Gladys chuckled. "You were always following that kid around everywhere, and you were never interested in girls. I remember when you were in the fifth grade, you ranted to me for an hour about how Archie 'proposed' to Betty and how it made you angry because you were convinced he wouldn't play video games with you anymore, or read comic books with you because, and I quote: 'married men don't have time for friends'."

Jughead snorted.

"And when you got to high school, you went all gothic—"

"—I wasn't gothic—"

"And I definitely caught you rolling your eyes at any of the girls that showed interest in Archie. What was I meant to think, Jug?" Gladys shrugged. "You've always been so sensitive and emotional, it made sense to me. And hey, at least you know I'd accept you if you did replace your North Side Blonde with a member of the brawnier sex."

"Alright, alright, I get it." Jughead sighed, "But none of this has anything to do with Archie… although, I did get in a fight with him over the weekend I'll tell you about later." Gladys raised her eyebrows, but refrained from interrupting. And then, like ripping off a bandaid, Jughead told his mom: "Betty's pregnant."

There was a moment of silence between them. Jughead refused to look at his mother's face for fear of what he'd find there.

"That," Gladys said slowly. "Is some deep shit." She pulled out another cigarette as her eyes widened.

"Yeah…" Jughead said softly. "So… not looking to start an affair with the boy next door anytime soon." He breathed out sharply and looked down.

Gladys stared straight ahead. "I see."

He squared his shoulders with determination. "We have a plan though."

"I sure hope you do." She said weakly.

"We do. I promise." He was unusually hungry for her approval. Even through his abandonment and trust issues, he didn't want his mother to be disappointed in him.

She took another one of those long drags of her cigarette. "Let's hear it then."

"We both have some money saved… we're going to work all through the Summer, and then the second we can move on campus we'll start working in New Haven." Jughead recited the baseline plan he and Betty had - there were several technicalities they had to work out, but it was a start, at least. "And we'll just have to stay focused… Betty already offered to make me a study/work/baby schedule, which is a little bit far from my usual style, but she pointed out that we need to make a lot of lifestyle changes if we're going to cope, and she's the smartest person I know, and the school counsellor thinks it's a good idea, so I trust their judgment."

"So you're going to work, and do college, and have a baby." Gladys sounded sceptical.

"Um, yeah…" Jughead's voice wavered, then he shook his head of the negative thoughts. "We're going to try, Mom. It's going to be hard, we both know that. But… we don't want to give up before we've even tried."

"Jug…" she rubbed the front of her forehead before continuing. "You have absolutely no idea what madness you're getting yourself into. Have you really thought this through? Has Betty?"

Jughead nodded. "As much as we can with everything else that's happening."

Gladys looked like she was contemplating making a statement, and then she let out a long gust of air. "Look, Jug… just do yourself and Betty a favour and don't rush into anything more serious than a child too soon. You're only young, Jug. In five years you and Betty might hate each other, and you don't want to be married to someone unless you're absolutely certain that it's right for your relationship."

Jughead frowned, a dark feeling settling itself in his chest. "Are you speaking from experience?"

Gladys quickly shook her head. "Not exactly… but I wasn't ready to have kids when I found out I was pregnant with you. Your dad was the one that convinced me we could do it, be a family and figure things out along the way. I'm not saying this to upset you, but I honestly don't think I would have gotten married so young if I wasn't already pregnant… and I was a lot older than you are right now."

Jughead mulled her words over, and tried not to let them negatively affect him. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, me and Betty haven't even talked about getting married." Just saying Betty and married in the same sentence was enough to overwhelm him, in both thrilling and terrifying ways. "I'm pretty sure the last time I heard her mention marriage at all was, like, a year ago, and that was only so she could agree with Veronica that getting married before she was finished with college was a bad idea."

"Yes, well… I'm sure having kids was an 'after college' plan for her, too. And yet…"

"Here we are." Jughead said glumly.

Gladys put her hand on Jughead's shoulder. "Whatever happens, Jug… I know you're going to be okay."

This time, Jughead didn't feel the need to move out of his mother's touch.

….

Jughead was so tired by the time he and his mother went back inside, that he crashed on the couch without a second thought, only sparing a moment to tell his mom she could sleep in his and Betty's bed.

(She slept in FP's bed. FP was trying to be gentlemanly despite his obvious lack of comfort, so he sluggishly trudged into Jughead's bed.)

By the time Jughead woke up, Gladys and FP were already at the kitchen table and deep into piles of paperwork and notes with Mary Andrews - and Sierra McCoy, for reasons he couldn't comprehend. Jughead felt worry for his dad increase, but decided not to ask; it hadn't gotten him anywhere so far, so what would be the point of trying again now?

He'd have to wait for his dad to come to him.

Cheryl drove Betty over to their house around lunchtime, and Jughead distracted her from worrying about Veronica by taking her out to check out his mom's Combi. She was amazed by the engine, and the mechanics, and the lack of rust - truthfully Jughead had no idea what she was talking about, but he was just happy to see her so animated.

When they returned to the house, the two lawyers were long gone and Gladys announced she, too, had to leave. She gave Betty a quick hug; Betty blushed and said a quiet "thanks" as Gladys whispered something encouraging into her ear. She even spared a quick embrace for FP; though there was still clearly a lot of tension between the two, they were smiling wryly at each other as she turned to Jellybean.

"Why do you have to leave? You only just got here." Jellybean's voice wavered, and she rubbed one of her eyes quickly to hide the tears building up.

Gladys' voice softened. "I'm not going to be gone forever. Soon I'll be able to move back here… it's just taking a while to sort out some work stuff… but I'll be around more often when I can, I promise."

"Stop." Jellybean said, taking a step away from her. "You're always making promises you don't keep!"

"JB—"

"No!" Jellybean wasn't hiding her tears anymore as her face twisted into a scowl. "I know your 'work stuff' is just a bullshit excuse—"

FP cut in unsuccessfully. "Jelly, don't talk to your mother like that!"

"—for something illegal! It always is with you." Jellybean spun around and ran up the staircase.

"Jellybean, come back here." FP called up the staircase.

"Leave me alone!" She shrieked.

The remaining people all jumped as they heard her bedroom door slam.

Gladys and FP shared a pained glance. "Well," Gladys mused. "It could have gone worse… "

FP gave her a sympathetic look. "I'll go talk to her. She'll come back down to say goodbye properly…she just needs a few minutes." He started to make his way up the staircase and out of earshot. Betty awkwardly excused herself to get something from the kitchen, leaving Gladys and Jughead alone again.

They stared at each other, and though there was an awkward feeling between them, Jughead was relieved to note that he wasn't feeling as tense around his mother since their talk the night before.

"You can't put a baby on your motorbike." Gladys finally stated with a firm finality.

Jughead nodded, a smirk forming on his face. "Betty has already made that abundantly clear to me." He scratched the back of his neck. "And she has a car, so…"

Gladys raised her eyebrows. "Gonna make her responsible for travelling with your infant?"

"No, obviously. But we're trying to save money, and me buying a car would put a significant dent in those plans, so… bike it is."

Gladys chewed on her lip for a moment, and then a sly smile came across her face. "Would you be open to a trade?"

Betty was even more excited about the Combi trade than I was.

It was a mutually beneficial trade, according to my mother (Betty whole-heartedly agreed) who was going to be 'staying nearby' (in an undisclosed location) and soon needed a mode of transport faster than the old blue van could handle.

It was only with a small sense of nostalgic grief that I handed over the keys to my bike.

"I'm sure when you're a famous, ivy-league educated author you'll be able to buy a much nicer one than this." Gladys winked at her son.

After a tearful goodbye from Jellybean, my Mom jumped on my motorbike and kick-started the engine. The sound of her revving it up the street and around the corner rang in our ears as she drove off. With her disappearance into the distance, I couldn't help the feeling of nervous anticipation that overtook my mind…

Hours later, Betty flitted about the small van, excitedly inspecting the interior and pointing out the various things he could do with it. "This will be so fun to decorate, Jug! You can hang your posters on the ceiling, your graduation cactus can live on this bench here… oooh or the dashboard! Hmm, that might be too much sunlight actually…"

Jughead noted the photograph of him and Jellybean at the drive-in sticky taped to the wall next to the small bed. He reached out and traced the outline as he wondered where all the extra moisture in his eyes was coming from…

There was, however, someone who was decidedly not excited about my new Combi…

Alice's face twisted into an expression that could only be described as 'mortified rage' as she emerged from her own car. She took a moment to scan her eyes over the blue Combi, which was still being assessed by her youngest daughter. FP and Jughead were standing back and nodding their heads to whatever mechanical jargon Betty spouted, though only FP seemed to be comprehending their meaning.

FP lifted a hand to wave at Alice, but his presence went unnoticed as Alice determinedly made her way over to her child.

"Elizabeth Cooper! Over my dead body will you be parading around town with your boyfriend in the Shaggin' Wagon!"

Jughead felt himself cringing.

"Mom!" Betty said sternly to her mother. Alice watched in complete horror as Betty placed her hand on the blue driver's side door. "It's not the Shaggin' Wagon - what are you even talking about? - this is the Mystery Machine!"

FP turned his laughter into a coughing fit.

Betty and I allowed ourselves some time with our friends at the quarry on Saturday morning before we actively threw ourselves into college and baby preparations. The Summer Sun was shining brightly through the trees, so most of the graduating class spent their time swimming and drinking beside the water.

Cheryl and Archie were a bit on edge the whole time because of Veronica, and Betty and Cheryl had several whispered conversations about their friend. But in the end, there was nothing they could do while Veronica was hiding in New York and ignoring everyone.

On a lot of my classmates' minds was Josie's final performance at La Bonne Nuit, scheduled for that same evening. I personally spent my evening at home being moral support to my nauseated girlfriend, but the videos posted to instagram proved Josie had well and truly earned her place in the Berklee College of Music; although it wasn't her original choice (Juliard) or her backup school (NYU), and her tentative plans to move to New York after graduation were now delayed, she was happy to be accepted at an institution that was specifically designed to improve her singing abilities. Sierra McCoy and Tom Keller were pleased that she would have Kevin close by when she left for college, as he'd accepted his own offer to study theatre arts at Boston University…

Dad agreed to let me use his bike for my newly minted UberEats delivery job, so on Sunday I started running food around most of the North Side. Within a couple of days Slash and Fangs were joining me on the road, so the South Side officially had enough people willing to deliver in the area.

Meanwhile, Betty got a waitressing job at the Hoe Zone.

She went in for her interview, wearing her sexiest pushup bra under a tight fitting shirt and jeans that hugged her ass in a tantalising way. The new owner turned out to be Veronica's mobster associate Elio Grande, who despite his criminal, underworld ties, seemed to be running a few legitimate businesses. Within ten minutes Elio told Betty she'd have a shift that night, so she spent the next few hours pampering herself to the standards the strip club expected.

"That's… a lot of eyeshadow." Jughead said as he watched Betty getting ready at the vanity.

She met his eyes in the reflection of her mirror, then opened a tube of red lipstick. She applied it quickly, rubbed her lips together and nodded her head in approval. "Makeup is part of the uniform. Speaking of, I'm allowed to choose my own lingerie to wear." She stood up and removed the pink coat she was wearing. Underneath was the laciest black bodysuit she owned, paired with her shortest black skirt and sheer thigh-high stockings. "What do you think?"

Jughead's eyes widened. He struggled to find words to encapsulate his objections to her new 'uniform' without sounding possessive. "Ahhh… I think… that you should let me drop you at work. And pick you up. In fact, maybe I'll just hang out at the Hoe Zone tonight," he cleared his throat. "Just to, you know, make sure they're following workplace safety procedures…"

Betty breathed a laugh and rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, Jughead. Elio employed some really scary-looking security guards. And I'm pretty sure two of them are South Side Serpents because I've seen them hanging around your dad." She smiled and moved closer to him. "I'm sure they won't let anything happen to me or the other girls."

Jughead slowly nodded. "I still want to drive you there."

"Oh my God, you're really overreacting." Betty started to put back on her coat and place emergency makeup in her handbag. "Besides, I thought you wanted to work tonight? I already told you, I'm not getting on a bike."

Jughead followed her around the bedroom. "Hear me out. I can drop you off in my Combi or your car, then come back and get the bike so I can work while you're at the club, then, using my advanced timing skills, I'll return to pick you up in one of the baby-approved vehicles." He gave her an optimistic look.

Betty studied his face for a moment and sighed. "Fine. But when you see that the area isn't nearly as seedy as you think it is then you're going to feel silly for being over-protective."

"Oh you are so going to eat those words, Betts."

When Jughead came back to pick her up at 2am, he decided to wear his South Side Serpent jacket and tried to exude as formidable a presence as possible. He leaned against the drivers-side door of Betty's station wagon (Betty wanted to properly service the Combi before Jughead started driving it everywhere).

Nobody seedy-looking was around, but the dark alley behind the Hoe Zone didn't make Jughead feel very optimistic. Although she was glowing with the thrill of a new job, Betty agreed that perhaps it would be better if she wasn't walking out to her car alone this late at night.

A few weeks came and went, and Betty and I tentatively fell into a Summer routine. She took as many extra shifts at the strip club as she was offered, and seemed to genuinely enjoy the work environment (she told Alice that she'd gotten a job at a 'new bar' on the South Side, and Alice had only stopped fretting when Betty assured her I would be driving her to and from each shift). Elio was impressed with her work ethic, so Betty was fast put in charge of training the other new waitresses (all attractive eighteen to twenty one year olds, for 'some' reason) that were hired as the Hoe Zone's popularity increased.

There were some terrifying news reports broadcasted from the RIVW.

Mostly they focused on three teenage girls who'd gone missing in Centerville. It was too close to Riverdale for my own liking, so I stuck with my promise of chauffeuring Betty to and from work. Alice, who was the lead reporter on the missing person's cases, began giving Betty (and a bemused Jellybean) safety lectures anytime they left the house in the afternoon.

"I swear Centerville is like, not even that close to Riverdale." Jellybean noted over dinner one night, an incredulous expression on her face.

"It's only two towns over, JB." Alice rebuffed, a solemn expression on her face. "The police still don't know anything about these disappearances. You can't be too cautious, especially now…" her lips pursed into a thin line, and she took a sip from her water.

FP frowned as he pushed his peas around his plate with his fork. "They know enough…" he said cryptically. He cleared his throat and added: "I don't wanna hear about you running off into the forest alone, JB. I mean that."

Jellybean rolled her eyes. "Why would I even go into the forest, Dad? It's creepy as hell in there."

"I'm serious, Jelly. Don't go into the forest alone or you're grounded."

"You're such a stress head - you're even worse than Jug! Seriously, when did the Jones men become such Negative Nancies… "

The Serpents met to discuss the Ghoulie problem in Riverdale. However, since they'd vandalised several buildings on the South Side - the El Royale included - the Ghoulies had been laying low for almost a month. Thus, we were all left in hiatus until one of them made their next move.

The meeting did give FP an excuse to bring up the fact that every member of the gang who was a Senior at Riverdale High had graduated that year. And honestly, I was just glad the Serpents had something to celebrate.

"I have an announcement of my own to make!" FP said seriously as the celebratory cheers had died down.

Jughead stiffened. Betty reached out to clutch his hand as her eyes widened.

"As of next Monday," he said, "I will officially no longer be the Sheriff of Riverdale."

Jughead breathed a sigh of relief. He'd known that was coming, so the announcement wasn't anything to get too worked up about.

There were mixed reactions from the Serpents. Some whooped and hollered, some gave each other nervous looks, and Hog Eye jokingly called out, "Did Lodge finally realise you're a closet criminal?" A few snickers were echoed through the crowd.

FP laughed. "No, no, I stepped down." He forced a smile onto his face.

"But why?" Termite asked incredulously.

Jughead knew the answer: FP had actually quit at his son's fake funeral after months of butting heads with Hiram over issues on the South Side, but had then decided to remain as the Sheriff until Hiram found a suitable replacement. That day must have finally come, but Jughead wondered how honest FP would be with the other Serpents…

"Since you became Sheriff, crime in Riverdale is at an all time low!" Termite continued. A few mumbled yeahs, and exactly, and he's right were said. "You're the only Sheriff who actually gets it. You know what life is like out here and you don't try to punish us for it!"

"The new Sheriff isn't going to come down hard on the South Side, I can promise you all that." FP said firmly. "I'm the one who recommended him for the job, and I can assure you that he's somebody we can trust to keep the streets safe without dragging us out of them. And with me no longer associated with the law enforcement, I'm free to help protect the South Side from threats, like the Ghoulies, if things get… lawless."

Sweet Pea shouted. "Yeah!" And a few members (all making noises of approval) agreed with him.

"We'll also have several new deputies joining the Sheriff's department next week, all of whom are residents of the South Side and have been training with us for the past two years as part of a program started by my son, Jughead."

Jughead raised his eyebrows in shock.

"Now that it's official, I want to introduce you all to the new letter of the law on the South Side: Tonsils, Jinx, Old Deuteronomy, Weasel and Fangs."

There were more cheers from the Serpents. Jughead and Betty clapped enthusiastically, and Jughead couldn't help but be happy for his friends. The young Serpents being on the right side of the law was what he'd hoped to achieve when he'd suggested the Junior Deputy program to his dad, and he was relieved to hear that they'd actually successfully done so.

Jughead did find it odd that Sweet Pea and Termite weren't made into actual deputies, until he discovered later that both were planning to go to college. He wasn't surprised Sweet Pea got into college, but the ex-Ghoulie and quick tempered Termite's sudden desire for higher education surprised him a little…

"This is Alice Smith, reporting for RIVW. In breaking news this evening, the Sheriff's Department in Centerville is enforcing a town-wide curfew of 7 o'clock PM, after the disappearance of 19 year old NYU Student April Lambert. She is the fourth teen to disappear from the area this month under suspicious circumstances. It is believed that she was visiting Centerville with friends to celebrate a successful first year in college; friends of April last saw her leaving Frigid Forest through the walking track at midnight on Saturday, and CCTV cameras caught her entering and exiting her room at the Last Resort Hotel at approximately two AM on Sunday morning. Local law enforcement are appealing to the public for information, and are considering the possibility that her disappearance is linked to the disappearances of missing fifteen year old Tricia London, seventeen year old Parvati Dasgupta, and eighteen year old Lia Sheridan. Centerville's Sheriff, Lyle Lansdown released a statement earlier today, stating that he has not ruled out the possibility that the girls have been abducted, possibily by the same person, and is questioning Registered Sex Offenders known to have been in the area when the girls disappeared. But some residents of Centerville are convinced the teens' disappearances are linked to an increase in gang activity in Centerville…"

Jughead waited outside the discreet back entrance to the Hoe Zone. He leaned against Betty's station wagon, and crossed his arms as a trio of drunk twenty-something year old men walked by, laughing obnoxiously and playfully shoving each other.

He hoped his scowl was intimidating.

When Betty emerged, her face was a picture of delight as she practically skipped over to the car; her body was covered by her pink coat, though Jughead knew if she took it off she'd be dressed in revealing black lingerie.

"We had a Bachelor party come in tonight, and I made triple digits in tips, Jug! I'm taking that straight to the bank tomorrow morning." She announced happily as she moved to the passenger seat. "At this rate we may actually have a decent amount of money to take with us to New Haven!"

I tried not to overthink her paycheck that week.

Finding a better paying job than UberEats wasn't easy, and after three weeks of delivering food it was still my only source of income. I was still one of the only drivers willing to deliver in the South Side, so I spent a lot of time driving around there on Dad's motorcycle. Lunchtime trips between Pop's and the El Royale (re-named the Andrews Community Center as of the second week of Summer - Jellybean had even gone to the 'renaming' party with her friends) were my most common jobs, second only to delivering pizza to the prison guards at Lodge Detention Centre.

Of course, thanks to this job I quickly learned which of my friends were developing UberEats addictions.

"You're not allowed to judge me." Kevin said, after I delivered sushi to him for the eighth day in a row. "Working and preparing for college has been crazy, and fish oil is good for the brain."

Jughead smirked as he handed him the bag. "Don't you usually need to get concentrated fish oil from capsules for it to work?"

"I said no judgement, Jughead!"

I was steadily making money, but it still wouldn't be enough to raise a baby in college.

The closest I came to a new job was when I had a trial shift at the Bijou one quiet Wednesday afternoon.

It was all going so well - the manager seemed particularly impressed with the skills I gained by working at the Twilight Drive-In - until three seperate groups of teenage girls recognised me from mine and Betty's sex tape (which was unfortunately still circulating on adult websites). One girl even asked me if getting into porn was hard, or if she should just upload her videos to RedTube and hope for the best.

The manager's face had well and truly darkened by the end of my shift, and her eyes narrowed as she told me she'd 'give me a call if I was successful'.

At least I still got paid.

"This is Alice Smith of RIVW, reporting live from the Riverdale Sheriff's Department. In his first official statement since taking over the position from former Sheriff Jones, Sheriff Keller has implemented a curfew of 8 o'clock PM which bans residents from entering Fox Forest, Eversgreen Forest or Pickens Park, similar to the one recently enforced in Centerville. Residents may still attend local businesses and private properties, so long as they don't linger on the streets uncessarily. Sheriff Keller has openly declared this is merely a safety precaution while he investigates the disappearances of fifteen year old Ellen Ellison, and her fourteen year old sister Eliza Ellison-Mates. The girls were reported missing by staff at the Andrews Community Center merely twenty four hours ago. However, Child Protective Services fear that the teens may have disappeared sometime in late June. The girls reportedly ran away from their foster home at the end of the school year, and the director of the Andrews Community Center raised the alert when children who frequent the center expressed their concerns for the girls' welfare. Long-time Foster Carers Michael and Shelly Bates are currently being detained in Sheriff's custody for multiple charges, including child endangerment and neglect…"

Pop Tate re-organised the rosters at the diner to suit the workers' Summer schedules, so Betty ended up working three lunch shifts a week. Wednesdays and Thursdays quickly became insane for her, as she worked all day at the diner before finishing off the night with a shift at the strip club. Pop's Chocklit Shoppe was always busy and full of kids, but the Hoe Zone only really kicked off over the weekends. She worked there almost every night, but on Mondays (her one day off) she usually hung out with Kevin or Polly, and caught up on sleep.

She got hit on more often at the Hoe Zone, but in a strange way that was better than the customers' reactions to her at Pop's. At Pop's she was on the receiving end of angry stares from concerned parents, or was ogled by groups of teens who giggled when she served them their milkshakes. If she had a dollar for every time she got childish giggle and 'You,' as a response to her polite: 'Can I get you anything else?' then she'd be able to fund not only her own University education, but Jughead's entire degree, and still have some money left over to send their child to a fancy prep school in New York City.

More than once she overheard snippets of their sex tape being played on customer's phones as they bantered: 'Is that blonde chick the girl from the video?!' … 'No way, you're full of shit bro - oh my bad, you're right! Yo, check this out…'

It infuriated Betty - six teenage girls were missing, and all anyone her age wanted to talk about was 'that Blonde Senior girl's sex tape with that Weirdo Beanie-Headed Serpent'.

Sometimes, as she leaned across the bar to collect burgers and shakes, she felt the eyes of men, some old enough to be her grandfather, sliding over her; their gazes often lingering on her growing chest. At least when she was at the Hoe Zone, the sexualised stares and remarks she received were often followed by sleazy men slipping cash into the waistband of her skirt…

Cheryl went to New York for a weekend, and when she returned she was no more certain of what Veronica was doing than she'd been when she'd left. Betty was glad Cheryl's first order of business was to get lunch from Pop's with her entire household, because it meant Betty didn't have to wait any longer to learn what had become of Veronica over the past few weeks.

"I've never seen someone so… determined to avoid the truth!" Cheryl announced on that sunny afternoon at Pop's. Betty frowned as she served Cheryl a strawberry milkshake.

Polly and Toni exchanged nervous glances from across the table.

"Is she going to come back?" Toni asked, a surge of worry present in her voice.

"I don't know, TT…" Cheryl cuddled Juniper closer to her chest - the little girl was napping on her aunt's shoulder, happy that she'd returned from her 'holiday'. "She's already started moving furniture into our apartment. By the way, Betty, did you know the Lodges own, like, ten percent of the real estate in New York?"

Betty didn't know that… it had been three weeks of silence: she wasn't sure she knew anything about her best friend anymore.

"Hermosa set us up with a penthouse in one of her newly-acquired apartments… it's close to Barnard and Highsmith, and it overlooks Central Park… Hermosa's really not that bad when she's not trying to cause upheaval in our rum business…"

Betty tried not to let any tears fall as she moved on to take the orders of the next booth.

"Boy, this has to stop."

Jughead was just on the cusp of sleep, his arms securely around Betty, whose soft breathing provided a soothing reprieve from the go go go mood his brain was in. "What?" He groaned, and lifted the arm not trapped by his girlfriend to rub his eyes.

"This." FP said. He stood over them in his grey dressing gown, and indicated to the young couple lying on the lounge. "You have a bed, which I know from experience is a lot more comfortable than this couch."

Jughead lifted his head a little more. "It's just…" he tried to find the words to describe how disturbed he felt with the knowledge that his and Betty's most intimate moments were exposed from the one place in the world that should have been the safest.

There were none.

FP sighed and sat down on the armchair next to them. "Jug, I know you're uneasy in there. Believe me. But it's not healthy for you or Betty to live in fear of sleeping in a bed. Do you think Betty wants to sleep on the couch down here forever?"

Jughead ducked his head down. "This was her idea…"

FP leaned forward. "I'm sure she suggested it to make you feel safer. That girl loves you like nothing I've ever seen, Jug. And I know for a fact she'd do anything for you. But, look at her…" he nodded to Betty's pale face. "She's worn out, and sick, and she needs proper sleep… that's going to be a lot easier to get in your bedroom."

FP didn't push the point any further, but as he made his way up the stairs and heard Jughead waking Betty, he allowed himself a feeling of relief.

….

Betty was pleased to be back in our bedroom over the coming days. Her body was starting to get sore from sleeping on the couch, and it made her constant dashes to the toilet a lot easier.

"Not that I mind, Jug." She reassured him. "If you change your mind and don't want to sleep in here, I'll happily rejoin you downstairs."

Jughead was pleased that the thought of sleeping in their room wasn't as nauseating as it had been before graduation. He only hoped it would stay that way.

Shortly after we graduated, Jellybean was taking up a new breakfast cooking adventure that led to Betty discovering that the only food she could stomach was scrambled eggs. When three hours had passed and she still hadn't thrown up, she announced to me that if she had to live off of eggs for six more months then so be it.

I was glad she was eating something consistently, but after three weeks I noticed several things that left a lot of red flags in my mind.

Betty ate… but not much. Even when she did eat, despite her glee at being able to keep down eggs - and orange juice, apparently - she was still throwing up. A lot. So much so that one morning she threw up so hard she burst a blood vessel in her eye.

"Betty, this isn't normal." Jughead said, his voice thick with worry.

But she wasn't in the mood to argue. "Have you had a baby before, Jug?" She said frostily. "My apologies, I wasn't aware you were such an expert on normal pregnancies." She angrily fastened the buttons on the front of her yellow diner doll uniform, and pulled her ponytail far too tight.

Jughead tried not to let himself get annoyed, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as Betty's mood swings got worse…

That night, he found her crying into her pillow on their bed. He sat down next to her and rubbed her back, a mixture of bewilderment and concern overtaking his senses.

"I'm, going to—" She hiccuped, "—be such—" Sob, "—a bad mom! How could I have done this to our baby, Jug." She continued to cry inconsolably.

Jughead stroked her hair. "Done… what, exactly?"

"The sushi Jug!" She kept crying; her shoulders shook almost violently. "Polly told me I can't eat sushi while I'm pregnant. But Me and Jellybean made sushi and I ate it and now our baby is going to get listeria and die. "

Jughead shook off the mental image of Kevin holding a bag of sushi and saying: Don't judge me! He tried to remember Betty eating anything, let alone sushi. A spark of memory flickered in his head. "Betty… that was weeks ago… you didn't even know you were pregnant then."

His calming voice did nothing to help soothe her. "I should have known I was pregnant, Juggie. Women are meant to know these things!" She sniffled, and wiped her eyes. "We're meant to know what we can't do, what we can't eat, how we can't use the shower if it's too hot - and only now am I finding out all the ways I'm putting our baby in danger!"

Jughead discreetly pulled out his phone to google whatever the hell 'listeria' was. "Betts… you can't eat sushi because listeria comes from raw fish and it's bad for pregnancies. But you and JB made cooked tuna sushi, and it was home made - you basically just made tuna with rice, which you are allowed to eat. See?" He held the phone up to her face, and she looked at the screen with sceptical eyes.

Her eyes scanned the phone screen, then filled with tears again. "You're right… oh my God… you're already a way better parent than me." She quickly turned her face away and went back to crying into the pillow.

Jughead kept stroking her, hoping a guidebook to dealing with pregnant people would fall out of the sky and into his lap.

As it turns out, there are hundreds of parenting and pregnancy books available on the internet. I ordered a few of them from , sad to see my dollars disappear but happy that they were being used as an investment in our future…

A few more days passed, and Jughead found himself cuddled up to Betty's back at three AM after a late night strip club shift. He linked their fingers together where their hands rested above her belly button.

Betty's breathing slowed, and Jughead felt himself drifting off to the sound. His eyes were closed, his body sinking into their mattress as his brain started to turn itself off for the night when her voice floated up to his ears in a sweet whisper. "Jug?"

"Yeah, Betts?" He opened his eyes again and tried to focus in the darkness. Betty's golden hair looked almost silver in the moonlight that streamed through the window.

"Do you think we should tell our parents soon?" Betty squeezed Jughead's hand. "It's going to get hard to hide when I start showing, which might already be happening." She let go of his hand and took his wrist to guide it lower. "You can sort of feel it, right?"

Jughead ran his hand along her abdomen. "I mean… it feels kind of firmer than usual, maybe?" He paused his ministrations. "Not really rounder yet, though. I couldn't see a bump earlier."

Betty breathed a sigh and rolled over to face Jughead. He leaned back so she could lay her head on his chest. "I know… but I'm almost eighteen weeks pregnant, I don't want Mom to find out from someone else, and she's getting suspicious. She might have already guessed what's happening now that she's past worrying about me losing weight, and nagging me about needing to eat more."

Jughead wrapped his arms around her tighter, needing to increase the comforting way that the press of her body against his chest warmed him. "Okay, maybe we can tell them next Sunday, before we leave on our trip up to New Haven? At least then we have an escape plan if either of them tries to kill us."

It was something Jughead was increasingly looking forward to. They were going to take the Mystery Machine on its maiden voyage and figure out their game plan: on Betty's meticulous to-do list was: 1) Scope out Yale; 2) Find out where the cheapest rentals are; 3) Hand in resumes to prospective workplaces; and 4) Try and enjoy the alone time together.

Betty laughed quietly. "My money's on FP. We're expecting my mom to excessively freak out, but this'll be FP's first time dealing with a teen pregnancy. He's unprepared. Mom's practically a professional at this point."

"Hmm, I dunno about that." Jughead was glad Betty wasn't watching his face; if she could, she'd be able to guess that Jughead had his own suspicions about FP's experience with teen pregnancies. "I think we should tell them downstairs. If we're up here when they find out then your mom will definitely try and throw me out the window."

Betty giggled and looked up at him. "I sure hope not, I need you to keep all your bones intact to help me raise this thing." She brought a hand up to rub his cheek with her thumb.

Jughead turned his face to kiss her hand. "I've been thrown out a window before. I like my odds."

Betty smiled as she pulled his face to hers. Their lips met lightly before they pulled back and gazed into each other's eyes for a lingering moment. Jughead leaned forward again, and their next kiss was far less sweet… and lasted far longer… Jughead felt his eyes fluttering shut…

But the lingering fear that somebody could be watching them wouldn't leave Jughead's mind. He pulled back as Betty tried to deepen their kiss by tonguing his open lips. She opened her eyes and stared into his. The vulnerable look on his face made a sharp jolt shoot through her heart.

"Jug…" she whispered.

Jughead wouldn't let her finish. "I'm just tired, Betty. I'm sorry…"

Betty's eyes swam with sadness. "It's okay…" she pecked his lips and rolled to face the other way. Jughead instinctively wrapped his arms around her and allowed his forehead to press against the back of her head.

What is wrong with me? Jughead wondered, a slither of panic starting to creep in. He had a beautiful girlfriend, whose hormones were making her increasingly needy in the bedroom… but he just couldn't get into sex.

And he missed her. She was right there in front of him, her warm body pressed into his chest, but he deeply missed the feel of them wrapped up together, skin on skin and connected in ways they only were with each other.

Truly, he just missed the intimacy of being with her… He shook his head. There was nothing wrong, he was probably tired from working so much. He'd just need to do something to get out of his own head and back in the mood…

An opportunity to break the ice with his mental block arose at Cheryl's belated 20th birthday. Cheryl refused to celebrate it on her actual birthday out of respect to Jason, so she organised a party a few weeks later at the ruins of Thornhill - which, despite it's burnt-out, run-down appearance, still held an immaculately pristine pool. In any case, the haunting architecture of the old building was interesting to look at.

Since she'd decided her non-existent baby bump would be 'too obvious', Betty was too nervous to wear a tight fitting swimsuit around their friends. Jughead wasn't about to go swimming without her, so they spent most of our time talking to people inside the empty, charred building and laughing along with our ex-classmates as they dived and messed around in the pool.

Reggie Mantle proved himself as the worst influence on his friends; within two hours of the party starting he'd convinced several people (mostly ex-football teammates) to do birthday tequila shots in Cheryl's honour.

Jughead hadn't been planning to drink much, but when Betty kept getting questioned by people who didn't think "I'm the designated driver tonight" was a good enough excuse to not "just have one drink Betty!" Jughead found himself throwing back the drinks that were being thrust upon her.

Betty felt a bizarre mix of gratitude to her boyfriend for taking the focus off of her lack of alcohol intake, and concern for his inebriated state. But Jughead was feeling decidedly unconcerned, the buzz from the alcohol leaving him with a light, floaty feeling.

"Andrews! I thought you weren't coming." Reggie's voice boomed. He excitedly stood up from his self-made drink station, which consisted of a stack of plastic shot glasses, two half-empty bottles of tequila and a bottle of Red Raven Rum, all arranged 'artistically' in a circle on an old table-top.

Archie sheepishly walked through the stone archway into one of Thornhill's many ruined rooms. "Well, the community center has been quiet tonight, since most of the kids are at least trying to follow Sheriff Keller's curfew… I got a ride here with Slash, he was doing a delivery to a house nearby anyway…" Archie's eyes scanned the small crowd of people - only Reggie, Betty, Kevin, Jughead, Fangs, Sweet Pea, Weasel and Munroe were in the room. Most of their other friends were off getting drunk by the pool.

Betty knew he was searching the room for one person in particular. Archie nervously made his way towards them, and sat awkwardly on the ground next to Jughead. Betty took a steadying breath, then leaned across Jughead's other side to talk to Archie.

"Veronica isn't here." She stated, a touch of sympathy in her voice.

Archie looked up at her in surprise. Not because of her statement, but because it was the first time she'd directly addressed him of her own accord in months. Things between them had been tense and awkward since 'the kiss', though both teens had tried to forget about it and pretend nothing was wrong.

"I know…" Archie said. He swallowed, then continued: "I guess, I just…"

Betty smiled sadly. "Hoped she would be?"

Archie nodded then looked down. "I thought since it was Cheryl's birthday, and she was invited on the facebook event page, that maybe… but…" Archie sighed. "I guess she'll just come see me if she wants to talk."

"Just… give her time, Arch." Betty felt the urge to clench her hands into fists, but she took another deep breath instead. "She loves you… she'll come back."

Archie gave Betty a half smile, then looked back down at the ground.

"Nope. Not happening." Reggie said firmly.

Betty, Archie and Jughead looked up at him and noted his stern expression. "What isn't?" Betty asked curiously.

"This! This mope-fest. We're at a party. Celebrating. It's Cheryl's birthday! She has officially reached her twenties, proving herself to be much older and wiser than us eighteen year old peasants." He held a red cup to his chest and raised his fist in the air. "And what wise words have I learned from our fearless red leader?" Reggie paused for dramatic effect. "I'm in the mood for chaos." He handed Archie the cup in his hand. "Drink! Be merry! Create Chaos. I don't care, as long as you aren't all laying around being tragic." He wondered back over to his 'drink station' triumphantly, and began lining up another round of tequila shots.

Jughead, who had been quiet throughout the entire exchange, snickered. "It doesn't sound right coming from him."

Archie and Betty both focused back on the boy between them. "What?" Asked Archie.

"I'm in the mood for… Chaos." Jughead whispered dramatically, then let out a single laugh. "When Reggie says it. He doesn't have Cheryl's bitchy, self-assured flair." He laughed again, higher pitched this time and for slightly longer.

Archie raised his eyebrows and looked between Betty and Jughead. "Juggie, are you drunk?" He asked, surprise coating his voice.

"Pshh." Jughead said with a flick of his hand. "Nooo…. I'm just drinking for two." He winked at Archie, then started laughing again.

Betty couldn't help but join his laughing fit. "You're ridiculous." Betty giggled, shaking her head.

A soft expression came over Jughead's eyes. "Ridiculously in love with you…" he said quietly, then wrapped his arm around Betty. He pulled her tightly into his side and rested his head on top of hers. She smiled and leaned further into him.

Archie quickly downed his drink and stood up. "I'm going to go find the birthday girl… I'll catch you guys later." He made his way back out of the stone archway.

"Andrews, get back in here!" Reggie called out. When Archie didn't come back inside, Reggie huffed and jogged out through the archway in search of his friend.

"Maybe we're overdoing the PDA…" Jughead said slowly. His brain felt fuzzy - like every thought he wished to speak first had to swim through dense liquid to make it to his mouth.

Betty shook her head against his chest. "You hugging me is hardly going overboard." She leaned back a little to look up at him. "Although… I'm open to more PDA if you're interested." She smirked and tentatively placed one of her hands on his jean-clad thigh.

Instead of laughing and brushing her affections off, however, he leaned down and slowly kissed her neck. That was new - they'd given each other light pecks on the lips in front of others, and held hands, and cuddled up together on couches at parties or the rec room at school - but that was it. They were only ever 'appropriately' affectionate in public, choosing to express their true passions for when they were in private. They'd semi-made out in front of Archie and Veronica after one too many champagnes at the Pembrooke once, but honestly, compared to those two, Betty and Jughead were barely scraping the surface of uncomfortable-for-everyone-around-them levels of PDA.

So when Jughead, instead of pulling away, continued to kiss down Betty's neck, Betty felt a mild thrill, and a touch of nerves. "Juggie…" she whispered, feeling suddenly energised. "Our friends are right here…"

Jughead moved up her neck and kissed her cheek. "I know…" he kissed her on the lips, a long-lasting and sweet kiss. "But… I miss you." He kissed her again, and Betty felt it all the way to her toes.

"I'm right here…" Betty wrapped her arms around his neck. "You don't need to miss me." She touched her forehead to Jughead's.

He closed his eyes, revelling in the feeling of her in his arms. "No… I mean I miss you." His voice was a soft, desperate whisper. "I miss… your touch."

Betty knew he wasn't talking about holding hands. "Jug… how drunk are you?" She asked softly.

Jughead shook his head slowly, not opening his eyes. "I'm not that bad, honestly… not like at Archie's party." He let out a laugh. "That level of drunk gave me a whole other alter ego. I'm okay now, honestly…" he pressed his hands into her back and pulled her tighter towards him. "I just… miss you. I want you." He kissed her again.

Betty felt herself melting into his lips. Truly, she understood what he meant. It had been over a month now and they'd barely gone further than making out. And especially now that everything was changing, and their lives were about to get crazier and crazier, she was craving their usual intimacy…

Suddenly, Betty and Jughead both jolted in shock. A shrill squeal burst out of Betty as Jughead grumbled: "The fuck?!" Laughter broke out amongst the group of friends in the room, as well as a few snickers disguised as coughs.

Jughead's tipsy brain was slow to process what had happened, so he stared at Betty in confusion as she wiped her eyes. Someone had poured water over the couple. Betty blinked in confusion, trying not to shiver with the chill of the cool water as she looked up at the figure towering over them.

"Get a room, honestly." Chuck Clayton said, rolling his eyes.

Betty raised her wet eyebrows. "Did you seriously just pour water over us?" Jughead frowned and looked up at him.

Chuck smirked, but it was another voice behind him that spoke. "Nope! I did." Reggie emerged from Chuck's shadow, grinning like the Cheshire cat. "It was getting far too hot in here, and since neither of you nerds were going to get in the pool…" he proudly held an empty red bucket in the air. "I thought I'd bring the pool to you."

"This is…" Betty stared at Reggie incredulously. "Are you twelve?"

"Plus six!" Reggie said triumphantly. He held out a fist to Chuck, who rolled his again and half-heartedly bumped fists with him.

While their friends continued to laugh, Jughead shuffled as if to stand, then promptly lost his balance and landed right back where he started. "If I wasn't six shots in…" Jughead murmured, sliding closer to Betty on the stone floor. "I would kick both of their asses."

Betty sympathetically patted his cheek as she smoothed out her near-soaked purple sundress. "My hero…"

…..

"Thanks for the ride home, B." Josie said from the backseat of Betty's station wagon. Her voice was groggy, as though it was a struggle to formulate her sentences - probably due to overusing her vocal chords.

Unsurprising, thought Betty, since her and Kevin have been talking so much crap the whole drive. "Anytime, Josie."

"I gotta say… say same Betty… you rock." Archie piped up from Josie's right. Betty glanced up at the rear-vision mirror and noted that Archie's face was squished up against the window next to him.

Jughead started laughing in the front seat. "Heh… thanks for driving me home Betty."

"That doesn't count Jughead." Kevin said. Though he was as drunk as the other passengers in the car, he was by far the most eloquent. "You live with Betty already. She has to drive you home."

"Um, rude, Kev." Said Josie, her words coming out slurred. "He can still be appreciate… appreciatative… fuck me, I'm so drunk."

"Eewww Josie, no thanks."

"I didn't mean that literally, you psycho." She laughed, and then a cheeky tone worked its way into her voice. "Besides… step-sister sex is Jughead's thing."

Jughead turned towards Betty in the front passenger seat. "Betts, please, I beg you… let's leave them on the side of the road." Betty smirked and allowed herself a moment to look at the drunkenly annoyed facial expression on Jughead's face before she focused back on the road.

Kevin's mood seemed to be on par with Josie's. "Betty, that's not all he'll be begging you for tonight…" Josie and Kevin both started laughing hard.

Archie groaned. "Do you guys ever shut up?" He rubbed his eyes for a moment then went back to leaning against the window.

"Not if we can help it." Kevin said with a sing-song tune.

Josie continued giggling, then pulled her phone out of her clutch bag. She held up her phone and swiped open her camera, angling it towards herself and Kevin. "Everybody say: step-sister!" She tapped the phone and her face briefly lit up as Kevin laughed.

"You guys… done yet?" Archie mumbled, not opening his eyes.

Kevin and Josie shared a look. "Nope. I have one more!" Kevin said happily. "Hey Jughead, are you mad that Reggie got your girlfriend wet tonight?"

"Fuck off." Jughead mumbled weakly as Josie continued laughing. Archie snickered, and even Betty had to admit that was a good call. She was, after all, still pretty damp from the bucket of water so she allowed herself a small smirk as she continued to drive through the quiet streets.

"And now I'm done." Kevin was grinning as Josie's laughter died down. "Sorry guys, we're just giving you shit… you know we love you."

"Relax, Kev, it's fine." Betty said calmly. Annoying as it may be, Kevin and Josie really were just teasing them, unlike the other members of the Riverdale community she'd encountered. Barely a minute later, Betty turned the steering wheel around, and finally pulled into Kevin's driveway with relief.

Josie and Kevin seemed surprised that they'd already arrived, and enthusiastically thanked Betty for dropping them home. Betty shook her head in amusement as she watched them stumbling up to the front door.

Once they were both safely inside, she reversed the car out of the driveway and headed in the direction of Elm Street.

"You okay back there, Arch?" Betty asked, noting the screwed up expression on his face in her rear-vision mirror.

Archie grunted in affirmation, his eyes remaining closed.

"And here you thought I was wasted." Jughead laughed, turning around to look at Archie.

Betty rolled her eyes. "You're definitely not sober, Jug."

Jughead tapped her thigh with his palm. "Sober is for boring people."

"You calling me boring, Jones?" Betty smirked.

Jughead breathed a laugh. "No…" he slowly slid his palm further up her thigh, inching it inwards. "You're never boring."

Betty's breath hitched, and she was suddenly very aware of her heartbeat. She glanced at Jughead and noted the intense, piercing look he had in his eyes… She blushed as she focused back on the road, then spared a glance in the mirror. Archie looked like he was passed out… but she wasn't going to start anything with Jughead while their friend was in the car.

"Later." She whispered to Jughead, and he gave her a heated look that said he would definitely be taking her up on that.

Minutes later they'd parked out the front of their house and dutifully led Archie to his own front door. Mary Andrews had waited up, and was visibly unimpressed with Archie's drunken state; though she did genuinely thank Betty for driving him home.

"We do live next door. It was honestly no trouble Mrs Andrews." Betty said with her trademark politeness.

Jughead and Betty walked hand-in-hand back to their own house, and Betty felt a rush of anticipation. They'd only just stepped in through the front door (Betty hadn't even taken her keys out of the lock) when Jughead had her pressed up against the wall and captured her mouth with his own.

"Mmm… Jug, wait." She giggled as he moved his lips down to her neck. She fumbled with the keys and tried to quietly shut the door as Jughead's mouth moved down lower, but she pushed it a little too hard and it rattled on its hinges.

Jughead's eyes held a cheeky glint. "Shush, Betts. You'll wake everyone."

"And whose fault will that be?" Betty whispered, the humour in her voice evident.

"When I'm done with you… it'll definitely be yours." Jughead promised, his voice coming out husky.

Betty's skin was hot and tingly where Jughead touched her; she grabbed his hand and lead him up the staircase before one of them started tearing clothes off; they weren't the only people in the house, after all. Jughead didn't make it easy though, spinning her around twice on the way up so he could pull her into a searing kiss, and lean her back against the railings.

The second their bedroom door was locked, Jughead was lifting Betty up into his arms. Betty wasted no time in wrapping her legs around his hips, and placed her hands on his cheeks. Their kisses were hot and open mouthed as Jughead reached the bed. They fell onto the covers unceremoniously, and Betty tried to stifle her giggles at Jughead's clumsy attempt to pull off his shirt.

"Need help?" Betty smirked at him.

"I got this." Jughead's voice was muffled behind the material. He kneeled so he had more room, then as he freed his torso he cheered: "Woo!"

Betty clamped her hand over his mouth. "Shush Juggie."

"Oops…" he said through her hands.

She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud. They'd been interrupted and put off of sex so often lately that she didn't want to risk waking their parents and killing the mood. Keeping Jughead quiet might prove to be the real challenge, though…

"Your dress is cold." He told her as his chest collided with hers.

"It's still kind of damp." She murmured quietly, pushed his shoulder, and rolled them over. "Let me take it off so I can warm you up…"

Jughead watched as she slowly peeled her dress up and over her head. The heat between her legs as she straddled him, the contrast of her lacy black bra against her white skin, the way she shook out her golden hair after tossing her dress to the side - the mere sight of her sent his brain into incoherent nonsense; the only thing he was capable of thinking was 'yes'. Yes yes yes yes…

Perhaps it was the alcohol affecting his brain, or his sheer intoxication with Betty that did it, but Jughead found his thoughts and feelings couldn't catch up with his body. His insides were all heat and want and need, but his breath was coming out in gasps.

But, he realised, they weren't the good kind of gasps, like the ones Betty was making as he reached his hands up to kneed her breasts. They were the kind of gasps he'd make if he was struggling to bring in air…

… which, to be honest… he was.

Betty leaned forward to kiss his bare chest. Her kisses were warm, but Jughead suddenly felt cold. Too cold, as though all the heat was being sucked out of him. He let his hands drop to his sides as Betty continued trailing kisses down the slope of his chest, then his stomach, and below his navel. He wanted to halt her, to make her pause because something wasn't right - but he couldn't get the words out. They were trapped, caught in his throat as he struggled to breathe.

Just before she reached the waistband of his jeans, Betty looked up at Jughead, expecting to see his eyes staring down at her in wonton anticipation. So when she saw, in his eyes, an expression that looked nothing like desire, and everything like fear, she stopped her ministrations and unwrapped herself from his body.

"Jug." She leaned down and placed her hand on his shoulder. He was tense, and flinched away from her hand as he sat up. "What's wrong? Did I do something?"

Jughead forced his frantic brain to focus. "No." He choked out, and stumbled off the bed. "I just need… one second." He hurried over to the bathroom and quickly locked the door behind him.

Jughead turned the tap on at the sink, and splashed some cold water on his face. Get it together. He told himself, and glared at his reflection in the mirror.

"Jug?" Betty's muffled voice came through the door. She tried turning the handle unsuccessfully.

"I'm okay Betty." Is what Jughead tried to say, but the words were catching in his throat.

Jughead leaned back against the cold tiles on the wall and slid down to the floor. Breathing was just as difficult as it had been in the bedroom, but he tried desperately to slow it down. You're not having a panic attack over sex! He told himself - but his brain and his body weren't co-operating. The sound of Betty picking the lock on the bathroom door was louder than the raspy sound of his breath; too loud - echoing in his head. He brought his hands up to his ears.

And then Betty was there, covered by his discarded T-shirt and crouching in front of him, bobby pin between her fingers.

"Go away…" he said weakly.

Betty's eyes were wide, though she was making a great attempt at keeping her face calm. "What's happening?" She moved her hand as if to reach out and touch him, but slowly moved it back.

There was a knocking sound, and then FP's voice called out from the bedroom doorway. "Are you two okay in here?" Jughead could hear the voice, but he was too far in his own head to even attempt to stop FP from coming inside.

Betty left the bathroom, and Jughead was gloriously alone for only ten seconds before it was his dad crouching down infront of him. FP had an intense fear in his own eyes as he took one of Jughead's hands and tried to remember the breathing techniques for panic attacks he hadn't needed to use on his son for years…

….

Jughead didn't want to talk about what happened the next morning; he was still exhausted, and a little hungover, so Betty didn't push the point as she made scrambled eggs for them both.

But as they ate breakfast in uncomfortable silence, a raising sense of anxiety fluttered throughout Betty's body. In fact, it was this anxiety and worry over her boyfriend that Betty blamed for her inability to keep down her new favourite food.

"Damnit." Betty groaned as she leaned back from the toilet seat. She pulled her phone out to check the time, and frowned. It had only been ten minutes since she'd finished eating. She stood up, and felt a little off balance, but she would be late for her shift at Pops if she didn't hurry up; so she briskly showered and sorted out her uniform.

Jughead was resting on the couch when she descended the stairs, but he got up and gave her a kiss on the cheek before she left.

"Are you working at the Hoe Zone tonight?" He asked her.

Betty shook her head. "Nope. It's Tuesday."

Jughead gave her a tired smile. "The days are all blurring together. I never realised how much I relied on school to keep track of the calendar." He brushed his fingers across her cheek. "Good thing I have you."

Betty was still smiling as she got in her car, but she couldn't shake the worry she felt for Jughead.

She was worried for most of her lunch shift; Pop asked her more than once if she was feeling okay, and she assured him she was fine - but truthfully, she felt awful. Her head was pounding, she was flushed in spite of the air conditioner keeping the Summer heat out of the diner, and she'd made no less than four trips to the bathroom to throw up. She declined Pop's offer to let her leave early, conscious of the fact that her and Jughead were trying to save every penny they had.

When she arrived home that afternoon, she trudged upstairs to her room and contemplated googling which pain medication she could use during pregnancy; but the phone screen was making her headache worse, so she downed a prenatal vitamin with some water and fell asleep less than a minute later.

It was already dark when she awoke, and her sleepy brain was foggy and confused. She blinked, and tried to work out what woke her up; Jughead had climbed into the bed behind her, and in the process he'd jostled the mattress enough to disturb her.

He'd barely managed to say: "Sorry, Betts," before she was standing up and running into the bathroom, hardly able to contain the loud retching noises that were coming up her throat.

It took ten minutes before she felt well enough to stand up again and walk back to bed. Her stomach seemed to be trying to out-do her head in their competition to cause her the most pain.

Jughead had migrated and was sitting at the end of their bed; he stood up as she emerged from the bathroom. "Betty, we need to talk…"

Betty paused and looked up at him. "About last night?" His panic attack was certainly the only thing she could think about all day, and that was the only topic that had any chance of keeping her from crashing immediately.

Jughead frowned. "No. Last night…" he audibly swallowed. "I was just drunk. I want to talk to you about something else."

Betty shook her head. "That was a lot more serious than being 'drunk', Jug. You weren't even that much past tipsy." She took a step towards him and reached out to take his hand. "If there's something worrying you, you can talk to me."

Jughead looked down at their entwined hands. "Betty, I am trying to talk to you." He shook his head and let go of her hand. "I think you need to see a doctor… this throwing up is getting out of hand."

Betty felt a mix of irritation and hurt. "You know why I'm throwing up so much. This is normal." Betty could feel frustration raising in her body, so she lowered her voice to a furious whisper. "What's not normal is you freaking out every time we're about to have sex."

Jughead's own facial expression morphed quickly from concern to annoyance. "I don't freak out when we - this isn't about me. We're talking about you." He ran a hand through his hair, and Betty could practically see the frustration radiating from him.

"No." Betty crossed her arms over her chest. "Juggie, I'm worried about you. You haven't been yourself in weeks. You even said so yourself last night, so don't stand there and act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

"What? I didn't say anything…"

"You miss me? My touch?" Betty uncrossed her arms. "Ring any bells? We haven't been doing anything with each other lately, and it's clearly because something is bothering you." Betty took a breath and tried to soften her voice. "What is it? Are the sex tapes still worrying you? Do you feel weird about doing it while I'm… in my condition?" She lowered her voice to a whisper for that last part, conscious of the fact that the noise in their house travelled. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me…"

Jughead huffed and turned away from her. "I was drunk last night. That's all. And the past few weeks… we're both just working so much. I'm tired, that's why we haven't been…" He started pacing around the bedroom. "What's bothering me is that you're in denial that something is wrong with you."

Betty's eye's widened. "I'm in denial? Are you serious?!" Her voice raised an octave.

"Yes! Nobody is meant to be this sick, no matter what the reason is." He continued his cyclical journey between the vanity and the bathroom door. "I've tried talking to you multiple times, but you keep brushing me off. I'm worried about you, Betty. You've lost so much weight the last few months, and you're meant to be gaining more!"

"Oh, so now this is a weight thing? You sound just like my mother!" Betty's concern for Jughead's well-being was still at the forefront of her mind, but it was quickly being clouded by the surge of anger she felt.

"This isn't a weight thing! It's a health thing, Betts." Jughead was actively trying to keep his own voice down, but his frustration with his girlfriend was making it incredibly difficult. If they hadn't already woken the other members of the household, they were definitely about to.

Betty could feel angry tears starting to prickle the back of her eyes. "I'm doing just fine, Jughead. It's you that has the problem, here."

Jughead could no longer contain his own anger. "Betty, stop trying to turn this around on me. Deep down, you know what the issue is."

"Oh, yeah? Enlighten me then, since you're apparently the expert now!" Betty's voice raised to match Jughead's.

"Control!" Jughead was almost shouting now. "You can't control this aspect of your life, so you'd rather pretend it isn't happening than admit that there's a problem!"

Betty's fists were clenched hard. She felt the sting of her fingernails digging into her palms. Despite his obvious anger, Betty still saw the regret that was present on Jughead's face. He'd struck a nerve with Betty, and they both knew it. Both of them were breathing heavily, and glaring at each other. How had they gone from expressing their concerns for each other to practically screaming in each other's faces?

Thanks to her newly out of control hormones, Betty knew if she didn't leave now she was going to start crying. "I'm going to sleep downstairs tonight." She turned around and took a step towards the door.

"No, I am." Jughead said in a slightly lower, but still angry tone. He grabbed his pillow and stormed past her. "Because even though you're determined to make me the bad guy, I'm not!" He practically slammed the bedroom door behind him.

Betty could hear the angry thud of his footsteps moving down the stairs as the tears started flowing down her face.

Jughead woke up feeling even more exhausted than he had the day before. He'd hardly slept at all, spending the remainder of the night cold and angry on the couch.

It didn't feel right being down there alone. He couldn't relax without the smell of Betty's shampoo pressed right up against his face, or without his arms wrapped around the warmth of her body.

He'd tossed and turned for most of the night, unable to get comfortable, until he'd eventually passed out from exhaustion. Although he'd calmed down somewhat, his frustration with Betty still lingered. He truly was worried about her, but he was at a loss as to how he could help her when she wouldn't admit that throwing up as much as she did was problematic.

He supposed he could concede that maybe she had a point - he had been uncomfortable with sex for a while… and come to think of it, they really hadn't been intimate with each other since… when was the last time? He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to remember when they'd last gone past making out… He frowned. Surely it wasn't when they were still at school… was it?

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of someone coming down the stairs. He looked up and realised it was Betty, and suddenly guilt overtook the anger in his chest. She looked worse than she'd been all Summer - her eyes were bloodshot and red rimmed, and Jughead knew it must have been from crying. She was pale, and the yellow of her diner uniform did nothing to help how washed-out her skin seemed.

"Betty…" Jughead said in a horrified whisper as he stood up from the couch.

She looked over at him for a moment then made her way into the kitchen. "Are you working today?" She asked; her voice was flat, as though she was holding back her emotions.

Jughead swallowed as he followed her. "Yes… why are you dressed for work already? It's only nine…"

"I got called in early. Denise is sick and they're already busy…"

"Betty, you're sick." He said, becoming stressed at the sight of her weakly pulling a bottle of water from the fridge.

She ignored him. "Can you drop me off at the club at eight?"

"Yes… but Betty—"

"Thanks, I'll see you later then."

"Betty, wait. Stop." He stood in the way of the back door before she walked through. "Can we talk, before you leave? Please."

Betty sighed and looked up at him. "Is it about your panic attack?"

"No, it's about—"

"Then no. I'm leaving." She pushed past him and walked out the door.

"Betty, wait. Don't leave!"

"Bye, Jughead." She called out behind her.

Jughead watched her, his heart sinking as she slowly made her way down to the garage.

"Betty, I called your mother."

Betty whipped her head around so fast she heard the air rushing past. "What? Why?" She asked, her voice raising with anxiety as she placed an empty milkshake glass on the bar.

Pop gave her an apologetic look as he walked over to her. "Because she's your emergency contact, and that's who I call when one of my workers is sick."

Betty rubbed the front of her head. "I'm not sick, Pop… I just didn't get enough sleep last night." She tried her hardest to keep down the nauseous feelings running through her body. "And if I leave you'll be under-staffed." She hoped how sick she felt wasn't showing on her face.

"I'll manage." Pop said determinedly. "And you're not fooling me, kid. I've seen you going to the restroom so many times today I've lost count."

The nausea wasn't cooperating. Betty swallowed. "I'm not contagious…"

Pop waved his hand dismissively. "And you're not changing my mind." Pop looked past Betty. "Ahh, there's Alice now. Betty, I admire your commitment to the job, but go home. Get some sleep. Make that boyfriend of yours look after you - whatever you want. But I don't wanna see you tryna come back tomorrow in your state. You take as much time off as you need." He turned and made his way back behind the bar.

Before Betty could argue, the bell at the entrance of the diner rang out. Alice was walking determinedly through the door, and stopped only once she was in front of Betty. "Elizabeth, honey, look at you." She held her hand up to Betty's forehead.

"Mom, seriously…" Betty mumbled. Her mom's hand felt oddly warm, but that didn't make her feel any more enthusiastic about her presence.

Alice frowned deeply. "I'm not arguing with you anymore. You're going to see the doctor today."

Betty wanted to protest, truly she did, but if she opened her mouth she was probably going to throw up again.

Alice's face softened. "Do you need to sit down?" She asked, her voice sounding a lot gentler than Betty was expecting.

Betty looked up at her mother with surprise, and nodded. She let Alice help her onto one of the small red stools, and then laid her head onto her arms on the benchtop. It may have been an entirely undignified position, but the world was spinning, and being in one spot helped.

"Thank you for calling me, Pop." She heard her mother saying, but she blocked out the rest of their conversation in favour of focusing on her breathing.

She succeeded in holding back the nausea, and lifted her head after a few minutes. She tried to come up with a reason she wouldn't need to go to the doctors, but another voice cut off her attempt at improvisation.

"Betty, I'm sorry to disturb you at work…" It was Tom Keller, back in his old Sheriff's uniform with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm going to need you to come down to the station."

Betty turned towards him in shock. "Ah… why?" She forced out.

"I have some questions for you that the FBI need answered…" Tom started.

Alice cut him off. "Can it wait? Betty needs to see a doctor." She stood up, and Betty was glad she wasn't on the receiving end of the glare Alice was giving the Sheriff.

But Tom Keller was tough to intimidate. "I'm afraid it can't wait, Alice."

"What business do the FBI have with my sick daughter that is so urgent?"

Tom did a great job of keeping a straight face. "I can't discuss it here… but, it has to do with the child pornography case Betty is involved in."

Betty sat up straighter. They may technically be in a fight right now, but she wasn't about to throw Jughead to the dogs. "I already told the FBI. It wasn't Jughead who made the videos, and I don't want to press charges."

"The questions I have… aren't about Jughead's involvement."

Betty was surprised to learn there was a case involving her that was apparently part of an ongoing investigation.

But she was even more surprised to learn that she was a potential suspect.

She threw up in the trash can in the hallway of the Sheriff's station, prompting Alice to loudly exclaim that this 'session' could wait, as Betty was clearly not up to it. Instead of agreeing, Tom merely gave Betty a smaller trash can to hold while he led them to a room for questioning.

Betty frowned as she noted it was the same room in which FP had questioned her about Jughead's death. She felt nauseous again, and clutched the small trashcan a little tighter.

"What were you doing in Greendale on the night of the ninth of June?" Tom asked shortly after he'd gotten the formalities out of the way.

Betty frowned, staring nervously at the recording device between them. "Why… why are you asking me that?" Alice looked at her suspiciously, but mercifully stayed silent.

Tom gave her a sympathetic look. "The videos were posted using the Greendale library's IP address. Jughead's laptop was found in Greendale library - and you were caught on camera less than six hours later entering and leaving a drugstore right across the street from the library." He leaned forward. "Some might find those facts… a little interesting."

This isn't happening. Betty thought. "I was working at the time the videos were uploaded." She said, gaining confidence in herself. "You can verify that with Veronica, who's already given the FBI her copy of the CCTV footage from Pop's that night, proving me and Jughead were at the diner until nine PM."

"Be that as it may, your whereabouts later that night were suspicious." Tom stated. He softened his tone as he continued. "You haven't been charged with anything yet, but I hope for your sake you have a good reason for being in Greendale on the same night that a video, classified as child pornography, involving you, ended up online…"

And Betty could see it now - the case a prosecutor could make against her. Maybe that she'd found out Jughead kissed Veronica - the evidence of that was recorded by several of their classmates, after all, thanks to Jughead and Archie's punch-up a few weeks ago - and in order to get revenge she pulled off an elaborate ruse to frame him for child porn…

"I need you to give me a reason, Betty." Tom interrupted her spiralling train of thought. "Any reason that you were in Greendale that night so that when the Special Victims Unit starts hounding me for your alibi, I have one to give them."

Her heart started racing, her skin prickled with goosebumps and her stomach twisted itself in knots that were even worse than the nausea. Betty gave one last look to her mother, who was eyeing her with anticipation, before she sighed and took the plunge.

"I went to Greendale specifically to go to the 24-hour pharmacy… the same one that captured me on camera." Betty closed her eyes for a moment. "I couldn't go to the one in Riverdale because I was afraid I would be seen by someone who knew me," she opened her eyes and stared straight ahead, "and that they would find out what I was buying and it would get back to my Mom somehow."

Alice stiffened and looked directly at Betty's forlorn face. But Betty kept her eyes ahead, not wanting to see the look her mother would undoubtedly give her when she said the next words:

"I was buying pregnancy tests." Betty said, exhaling loudly. "I snuck out of the house and took an Uber in the middle of the night to go to a pharmacy in another town where I wouldn't be recognised so that nobody would find out that I was buying pregnancy tests." Sickening anger welled up in Betty's chest as she clenched her hands into fists beneath the table. "The Uber app should have recorded the details of my trip and I'm sure my bank statement will show whoever wants to see it that I made a purchase there around midnight." Betty could feel her nails getting dangerously close to cutting the skin of her palms, but she pushed forward. "And in the hours between me leaving the diner and going to Greendale, I was eating dinner, then having sex with Jughead. Is that a good enough alibi for you, Sheriff Keller?"

The look of extreme discomfort on Tom's face suggested that he wished he'd taken a job in retail. He cleared his throat, and gave Betty a guilty expression. "I believe so." He leaned forward in his chair. "Look, Betty…"

"I think we're done here." Alice snapped, her voice sharp. Her chair scraped along the floor as she stood up.

Betty was too scared to look at her.

"You have her alibi, there's no need to continue this charade." Alice moved towards the door. "Elizabeth, let's go."

Betty sat frozen momentarily, before she snapped out of it and stood up. She placed the un-used trash can on the table in front of her, and refused to make eye contact with either the sheriff or her mother.

Fear radiated through Betty's body as she stepped out through the doorway. Her mother knew she bought pregnancy tests. The memory of the morning she'd used them at school clouded her mind. The panic and despair she'd been overwhelmed by as she sat in the bathroom stall and stared at the two positive tests came back to her as she spared a glance at her mother.

Alice's mouth was pressed into a thin line, and she was no longer looking at her daughter. Betty could tell instantly that Alice had figured it out - she'd put two and two together and knew Betty was pregnant. But she stayed silent as they walked down the hallway and into the entrance of the building.

Betty felt like she had to break the silent tension somehow - but the words wouldn't formulate. She felt a cold, dark sickness forming in the pit of her stomach. She swallowed. "Mom… I—"

"How did this happen, Elizabeth?" Alice cut her off, her voice clipped.

Betty's throat constricted, but she forced herself to answer. "I forgot to take my pill…"

Alice let out a loud sigh. "You're meant to be going to college, Elizabeth. What are you going to do now? Stay in Riverdale and raise a child off of your wages at Pop's? You're so much smarter than that! You have your whole life ahead of you to have kids." Alice's voice was pure frustration. "This is exactly why I didn't want you having sex so young!"

The sickening feeling got worse. "Mom, please…" Betty rubbed the front of her forehead, trying to relieve some of the tension. They'd almost made it back to the car, and Betty was not looking forward to the drive home.

"Whatever excuses you have, save them. I'm too upset right now Elizabeth." Alice furiously rummaged through her snake-print handbag for her car keys. "Dr Patel does walk-in appointments—"

"I'm not getting an abortion." Betty said firmly, feeling anger towards her mother rising.

Alice looked up, visibly offended. "I would never suggest that you terminate, how could you even think that?"

Betty's heart was racing fast. "Then why are you trying to take me to the doctor?"

Alice raised her eyebrows. "Because you're sick Betty. And I told you I'm not arguing with you anymore, you're going to see a doctor and you may as well see the one who specialises in pregnancies. He was your sister's doctor while she was pregnant…"

Betty was determined to hold onto her own sanity. "I don't need to see him today, Mom. I already made an appointment with him for my twenty week scan."

"Twenty weeks?! How far along are you, Elizabeth?"

"Almost eighteen…"

"You've been pregnant for eighteen weeks and I'm finding out now?!"

Betty leaned against the car for support. "Mom, can we please not argue right now." Am I shaking? Or am I light headed? Betty wondered, she held her arm out in front of herself to check.

"Elizabeth Cooper, I am not arguing with you. I am telling you - you are seeing a doctor. You can barely stand up, and if you're nearly five months along then something is wrong for you to be this sick. Even Jughead agrees, and don't think for a second that I couldn't hear him last night telling you the same thing." Alice crossed her arms and stood in front of Betty. "Honestly the way you two were carrying on, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole street knows you're sick."

Betty stared up at her mother. Her stomach rolled, and she heaved. She covered her mouth and tried to force everything back down again - but it was no use. She turned to the side and promptly threw up next to the car.

Betty felt Alice rubbing her back as she continued to heave bile. She tried to stand up straight, but she immediately hunched over again and gagged as she kneeled beside the car. There was nothing left in her stomach - no water, no bile, no liquid whatsoever. But she couldn't stop. The vomiting continued, and continued… and continued. She could hear, vaguely, the sound of her mother trying to comfort her, but all she could focus on was the pain in her throat and chest.

She tried to take in a breath, but each time she felt an agonising pressure in her ribs. She gasped, and continued to make awful retching motions that made her chest hurt more and more. Her face heated up, and her head hurt worse than it ever had.

Finally, she stopped heaving - but the pain in her chest wasn't going away. It hurt everywhere - her sides, her back, the front of her chest. Everywhere was just pain.

"Betty, honey, can you try standing up?" Alice's voice sounded worried, but Betty could only focus on the uncomfortable tightness in her chest.

"Mom…" she choked out. "I can't… breathe right." She continued to take in the shallow breaths that she could manage; her ribs strained in protest. "It… hurts. "

After delivering sushi to Kevin (again), Jughead decided to take a break. The UberEats app was gaining in popularity in their small town, so he'd been driving around Riverdale for hours during the lunchtime rush.

His legs were trembling slightly from being on the bike for so long, and he felt tingly as he walked up to the front door. The air conditioner was on inside the house, so he heaved a sigh of relief as he wandered into the kitchen and placed his beanie on his head.

FP was already seated inside at the breakfast bar, reading through the Riverdale Register. "Hey kid." He said in greeting, his eyes briefly flicking up to Jughead then back down again. "Still liking the delivery job?"

"Yeah." Jughead said as he opened up the fridge. "It was getting pretty hot for a while out there, though. I thought about ditching my jacket." He pulled out the bottle of juice. On inspecting it, he realised there was only a little bit left, and it was one of the few things Betty could drink, so he put it back and grabbed the water jug instead.

"...too dangerous." FP's voice interrupted Jughead's thoughts.

Jughead looked up at him and realised he'd been so focused on the juice he hadn't heard what his dad said. "Huh?"

FP rolled his eyes and put down the newspaper. "I said, riding without a jacket is too dangerous."

"Oh." Jughead moved to pull a glass out of one of the cabinets. "Yeah, I know. That's why I didn't do it." He poured himself a glass of water. "What were you so focused on?" He asked, and nodded to the newspaper in front of FP.

"Just checking out some of the ads for work." He opened the newspaper again. "Alice said there would be a lot in today's paper, but I'm not really impressed with the options. Still, work is work…"

Work is work - that reminded Jughead a lot of Betty's insistence that UberEats was a good job for Jughead to have. Still, he felt like he should be trying to find something more, something better, so Betty didn't have to work so much. Between both waitressing jobs, she was making a lot more money than Jughead; and although he wasn't so anti-feminist as to think that her being the 'breadwinner' was a bad thing, he knew she was anxious that she'd be let go when Elio figured out she was pregnant. If he had a better income, more money coming in, he'd feel more secure in knowing he could provide for their imminently growing family…

"Jug. You got rocks in your ears boy?" FP asked incredulously.

Jughead's head whipped around. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

FP frowned. "Nothing important… are you good?"

No, not really. Was Jughead's first thought. "Um… yeah I'm fine." When FP merely raised his eyebrows, Jughead elaborated. "I'm kinda tired. Didn't sleep great last night."

FP placed the newspaper back down. "Cause Betty kicked you out of the bedroom?" His lips twitched, but his face stayed neutral. "Been there, kid. Won't be the last time."

Jughead blinked and shook his head. "No… I chose to sleep downstairs."

FP snorted. "Then you're an idiot, Jug." He let out a small chuckle before continuing. "Look, I'm sure whatever you and Betty are fighting about… it won't last. You'll be back in her good graces in no time." He nodded sympathetically.

Jughead frowned. "How did you know me and Betty are fighting?" As far as he knew, neither of them had told either of their parents…

"Apart from all the yelling last night, you mean?" FP pointedly raised his eyebrows.

Ah… "That… wasn't yelling."

"Arguing, then. Whatever you wanna call it." FP opened his mouth to elaborate, but was interrupted by the shrill ring of his cell-phone. "One sec, Jug. Don't go anywhere, I wanna talk to you." He pulled out his flip phone, stood up from the stool and started walking into the living room. His voice was significantly politer as he answered the call. "Hey, Ally. I saw the ads, I'm not sure if…" he paused, and turned back to face Jughead. "Yeah, he's with me now…"

Jughead looked up. What does Alice want with me? He thought, and a second later he knew, with a cold, foreboding realisation that it must be…

"Betty's where? Sorry, you're breaking up." FP continued, clueless as to his son's startled expression. His confusion turned to concern as Alice continued to speak. "Yeah… yeah we'll leave now. I'll see you soon." He snapped the phone shut and made his way back into the kitchen, with much more of a frantic energy than usual.

Please, don't be something bad. "What happened to Betty?" Jughead's heart started pounding as he said the words.

FP's eyes betrayed his own worry. "She's in the hospital, Jug."

Having a loved one in the haunted walls of Riverdale General Hospital is never good news. As a child, I watched my grandmother go in and out of the wards for her cancer treatments, and began to associate the place with sickness and death.

My little sister had a few stints in there from various illnesses, the worst of which ended in her needing surgery on her ears. I can still remember her crying into my mom's chest before she was wheeled away.

Fred Andrews' near-death at the hands of the Black Hood provided an awful memory of Archie standing in the waiting room, drenched in his blood.

My own most recent stay in Riverdale General was the result of the Ghoulies beating me up within an inch of my life. And regardless of how self-inflicted it was, I didn't have pleasant memories of my week-long stay…

So knowing that Betty, my fierce, fearless, pregnant girlfriend, was stuck within the cold hospital walls less than twenty four hours after I'd started a fight with her…

Well…

It wasn't a great feeling.

"What room is Elizabeth Cooper in?" Jughead asked the tired-looking receptionist. His stomach was in knots. He had no idea what had put Betty in the hospital, but his brain was having a great time imaging the worst-case scenarios.

His worry for Betty was suffocating, but he tried his hardest to hold it together. Still, he couldn't help wondering if something was wrong with the baby; but the obvious conclusion was that there was, in fact, something amiss in Betty's pregnancy, as he'd suspected…

… he just hoped desperately that he was wrong.

Jughead and FP followed the nurses directions. The hospital was small, so it didn't take long for them to find the room she was in. Jughead stopped outside the door and took a steadying breath before he slowly inched it open.

Betty, curled up on the hospital bed, was one of the worst sights Jughead had ever seen in his eighteen years.

Her mother sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair next to her, slowly stroking her blonde locks, which hung dishevelled around her face. Alice looked up as they entered, but Jughead couldn't quite tell from her expression if she was angry with him or relieved he was there.

Betty was in a hospital gown, her head resting on a pillow and her eyes shut tightly. She gripped a vomit bag in her hands, and the dim lighting of the room made her face appear pale and gaunt. A nasal cannula was feeding her oxygen, and her hand looked as though it was bandaged. It took Jughead a few seconds to realise that it wasn't a bandage on her left hand, but medical tape keeping an IV drip in place.

"Betty…" Jughead practically whispered.

Her eyes opened slowly, though the mournful expression on her face didn't change. She weakly reached out her right hand, and Jughead moved forward to take it. He crouched down next to her, and Alice's eyes followed his movements like a predator watching its prey.

Betty's hand was cold in his; Jughead rubbed tiny circles on the back of it. He didn't know what to say to her. She was clearly not okay, so there was no point in asking that. But finding out what was wrong… was almost as scary as not knowing at all.

"I'm sorry…" Betty whispered. Her voice was barely audible, but Jughead could see the tears in her eyes just fine. "I had to tell her…"

"It's okay." He kissed the back of her hand, and felt tearful emotions gnawing at his throat. "You're going to be okay." He had no idea if it was true, but Betty visibly relaxed and her eyes fluttered shut.

FP walked further into the room. "Alice… what happened to her?" His eyes widened as he assessed Betty's fragile state.

Alice gave Jughead, for the first time ever, a sympathetic look, before she turned back to FP. "She's dehydrated, and she can't keep anything down, so they put her on a fluid drip…" She looked back down at Betty and resumed stroking her hair. "She's been throwing up almost everything for weeks. They want to monitor her overnight…"

"But… why? Do they know why she's sick?" FP's concern for Betty's welfare was obvious, as was his deep confusion.

"Oh, they have a theory…" she kept her face down at Betty. "But you'll need to talk to Jughead about it."

Jughead stiffened and turned to face his dad. FP's face still held an expression of confused concern, but there was an air of suspicion to his words when he asked: "Jug, you know what's wrong? Why didn't you say so in the car…?"

Jughead swallowed, and he felt Betty squeezing his hand in encouragement. "I don't know exactly what's wrong now… but I think I know what's causing it…" he looked to Betty for approval, but her eyes were still closed. "Betty is… um, that is to say that we're having…" he swallowed again, and tried to sound confident when he finally admitted: "Betty is probably sick, because she's… pregnant."

FP didn't say anything at first, just kept looking between Alice and Jughead as though hoping one of them would admit this was all some kind of sick joke. But the serious expression on both their faces, and the seriousness of Betty's current condition showed him that they were, in fact, being truthful.

FP's eyes narrowed. "Are you serious, Jughead?" He practically growled.

"Dad, listen…" Jughead said quietly. "It's not… everything is going to be okay."

"Look at your girlfriend right now, Jug. Does she look okay to you?!" FP's voice was raised in anger, but he seemed to be keeping a good handle on his emotions for now.

Guilt started to engulf Jughead. "Please, just, don't freak out. We're handling it, okay? We have a plan."

"A plan? Like the plan to use protection?" FP crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What did I tell you, boy. Don't rely on the girl. Always wear a—"

"Dad, we were using protection, we just…"

"Every time?"

"Ah… well, not recently…" Jughead's cheeks were burning. He was very conscious of the piercing look Alice was giving him, and the weak groaning sound coming from Betty's direction. "We didn't think it was necessary anymore…"

"Necessary?!" FP's anger was morphing into exasperation. "I told you so many times, boy. Pulling out doesn't work!"

"Oh my God, Dad. I don't 'pull out'."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?!" The angry expression was back on FP's face, but before he could continue, Alice stood up from her seat.

"Out." She said firmly, pointing at the door. "Both of you."

"Alice, I—"

"No, FP." Alice cut him off. "By all means, feel free to tear Jughead a new one, but go outside first. Don't do it in front of my sick child." She sat back down next to Betty in a huff to continue her bedside vigil.

FP frowned, opened the hospital room door again, and looked pointedly at Jughead. Jughead, his heart full of nerves, spared a glance at Betty, who was looking up at him with wide eyes and was unable to bring herself to speak. With a feeling of dread, he stood up and followed FP out into the hallway. The door swung shut behind them with an eerie creak.

FP didn't lead him too far away from the room, just far enough down the hall to be out of earshot. He stared at Jughead in anticipation, and Jughead wondered if he was staying quiet to stop himself from yelling. In any case, FP's face was growing red.

"It was when I got attacked at Stonewall." The words flowed out of Jughead's mouth. FP raised his eyes in confusion, so Jughead continued. "Betty was so stressed about me, and worried that it was her who almost killed me, that she forgot to take her birth control pills for a few days. And even though she was strict with taking it properly… that was enough to render it ineffective." FP's expression didn't change. "We found out the same day I got brought in for questioning for the sex tapes. She's been… really sick ever since. Our fight last night was basically about that."

FP sighed and leaned against the wall beside him. He rubbed his hands over his eyes for a few seconds, and when he crossed his arms again spoke in a deflated tone. "I never should have sent you to that school." He said, his face turning forlorn. "All I wanted was to give you a better chance at having a good life…"

"Dad…" Jughead said quietly, finding that his throat was constricting more than it should be. "You didn't know… you were just trying to help me…"

"And look where it's gotten you." FP's eyes were getting watery.

Jughead's chest was starting to hurt. "It's not your fault, Dad. This just… happened."

FP shook his head and looked down at his shoes. "I wanted more than this for you… you're a smart kid, Jug. So is Betty. You're both so much better than this hick town. I told you, I don't want you to be trapped here, especially not now…"

"Dad, me and Betty…" Jughead cleared his throat. "We're still going to New Haven when Summer ends. We want to study at Yale. We don't want to drop out before we've even started."

FP's head snapped up. "Are you giving the baby up for adoption?"

"No. We're keeping it." Jughead said firmly. It was the only thing he was absolutely certain about.

FP's brows furrowed. "I'm confused. You're going to college, but you're still having this baby."

"Assuming everything goes okay…" Jughead said, his worry for Betty increasing again.

"Jug…" FP sighed as he rubbed his eyes again. "You're in over your head boy."

"I know." Jughead said. "But… I always have been. At least me and Betty are in over our heads together."

FP looked like he wanted to say more, but something behind Jughead caught his eye. "Looks like Betty's doctor is back." Jughead turned and saw Dr Patel opening the door to Betty's room.

Jughead and FP hurried back to the hospital room and walked in.

Jughead had never met Dr Patel, but he looked like the photo Betty had shown him online, and Jughead had read enough about him to know he was one of the only doctors in Riverdale qualified to deal with pregnancies and birth.

"Ah, is this Dad?" Dr Patel asked Betty as they entered the room. She nodded.

Dad? Jughead stared at Dr Patel for a moment before he realised that the doctor was talking about him. Dad… whoa, Jughead mused.

"Is the baby okay?" Betty choked out. She was still clutching the plastic vomit bag as though it held the Crown Jewels.

"Yes." Dr Patel smiled. "Everything looked normal. Baby has a normal heart rate, and is growing typically. It seems to be having a great time in there; just wants to cause Mom a bit of trouble." He chuckled. "Interestingly enough, nausea tends to be an indication that the baby is strong and healthy."

Betty sighed in relief. Jughead used the opportunity to move closer to her. She reached out for his hand again, and he sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

Dr Patel checked over the notes on his clipboard. "Now, we do need to make sure that you are staying healthy, which can be difficult with nausea as strong as yours." He pulled a paper off of his clipboard and handed it to Alice. "That's a fact sheet for you to take home, Elizabeth, with notes on how you can manage your condition." Before they needed to ask, he continued. "Based on your symptoms, most notably the vomiting and inability to keep food and fluids down, and due to the fact that you've lost more than ten percent of your pre-pregnancy weight—" Jughead and Alice both cringed as they heard that statistic. "—I am reasonably confident that you have a condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum."

Everyone in the room remained silent, all processing the name of Betty's apparent condition.

"What does that mean?" Jughead finally asked.

"Yes, it can be a bit of a mouthful." Dr Patel said kindly. "It's basically just a fancy word to describe uncontrollable nausea and vomiting. Women with this condition often need to be hospitalised, especially if they don't know they have it." He pointed to the drip next to Betty's bed. "It's rare, but it can be managed. This could resolve itself before the third trimester, but some 'lucky' women throw up daily until the baby is born - which, unfortunately, is the only known cure."

Betty clutched Jughead's hand a little tighter. "Is there… did I do something to make this happen?" Betty asked quietly. "I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was already past twelve weeks…"

"No, in my opinion this is completely random." Dr Patel assured her. "Sometimes you have a higher chance of developing this condition if your mother has had it… but honestly there hasn't been enough research into what causes it, because it isn't a commonly diagnosed condition; but nausea itself is quite common in pregnancy." Dr Patel looked down at his notes again, and started scribbling something else down. "It's really only the severe cases, such as yours, that warrant extra precautions. You'll find that you can't have some foods that trigger your nausea, and you may only be able to stomach a few different things…"

Like eggs and orange juice. Jughead thought.

"...and unfortunately, you may need to come in again in a few weeks for more IV fluids. Once the nausea settles down, I'm happy to discharge you."

"Today?" Betty asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not." Dr Patel responded. "I want to keep you in overnight, at least, to make sure you're not still vomiting excessively. The nausea likely will subside for a while now thanks to the fluids and anti-nausea medication, but you still need to take it easy until the pain in your chest goes away. Because, thanks to all that vomiting, you likely have bruised ribs, so I'd like you to remain on bed rest for the rest of the week." Dr Patel smirked a little. "So no work, and no other strenuous activities. "

Betty blushed. "Okay…"

Dr Patel wrote down something else on his clipboard. "That's it from me. I'll be back later tonight or early tomorrow morning. If you're feeling sick, or the pain in your chest gets too much, please buzz the nurses. I have it on good authority that it's a 'boring' night tonight, so it'll give them something to do besides make rumours up about each other." He winked and said his goodbyes as he left the room.

Alice piped up from the other side of Betty's bed. "FP, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead brushing her hand on his as she moved toward the door.

FP nodded to Jughead and Betty. "I hope you feel better, Betty." He said, then followed Alice outside the door.

Jughead sighed and moved around the bed to sit on Alice's unoccupied chair. He scooted closer, and brushed his fingers over Betty's cheek. "How are you doing?" He asked quietly. Having a diagnosis, a reason for how sick Betty had become, had eased a lot of Jughead's stress, but he was still worried.

"I feel awful. But… this IV is pretty great." She answered honestly. "And… I'm sorry. You were right… I should have listened."

Jughead's chest tightened again. "Betty… no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. This isn't your fault." He reached for her hand again; their fingers entwined gently, and Jughead was relieved to feel her hand warming up to his touch.

Betty's eyes were glassy as she looked up at him. "Thank you for saying that… but you were right. I was scared… I was so scared of what I can't control about being pregnant that I convinced myself everything was normal."

"No, no, I shouldn't have said that to you." Jughead leaned closer to her. "I was projecting my own feelings onto you, and that's not fair." He took a breath and let himself be honest. "I feel out of control, like… I can't keep danger away from us. It feels like people are watching us… especially when we're alone." He confessed.

Betty nodded meekly in understanding. "I can see that, Juggie. I know how much these sex tapes are affecting you." Her voice was still barely above a whisper. "I hate that our personal lives have been exploited. It's affecting me too… but Juggie, I really think you need to talk to someone about it. A professional. For your own sake, and also…" she shifted so she could sit up a little better. "It's not just us anymore… we need to make sure we're both healthy, physically and mentally, so that we can be the parents our baby deserves."

"I will." Jughead promised. He pressed his forehead against Betty's, and closed his eyes. "I will, I promise. And I promise I'll be here for you. You and the baby. Through everything."

"Me too." She whispered. "I love you Jug… and I'm here for you. I promise."

Jughead smiled and pulled away from her. "So… I'm not asking you to marry me. When I do that it'll be way cooler." She let out a small laugh, and the sound made Jughead feel a little warmer. "But at the risk of sounding like a 1950s period drama…" he slid off the silver band around his right hand's middle finger. "Will you wear my ring?"

"Jug…" Betty understood what he meant. They were young, and there were a lot of things they both still had to do for themselves before they took that next step. It would be challenging enough navigating young adulthood with a baby in tow, let alone a marriage. But he was trying to show her without words that he was committed to figuring it all out with her. She smiled up at him. "Of course I will." She said, her nauseous insides making room for the butterflies in her chest.