I don't remember the last time that I posted two chapters so close together, but this chapter just came to me. I planned to post this chapter later this week since it usually takes a few days (most of the time) to get the bulk of the chapter completed especially if I'm struggling to write. But this one came to me out of nowhere and I had plenty of time and my dedicated playlist playing and the words just started coming out of nowhere.

So, please enjoy.

TW: Brief use of strong language (literally only happens one time); talk of past major character injuries

Jughead left Riverdale High and went straight to Pop's. He wasn't supposed to work until later that night, but the restaurant was his solace and seven years away hadn't changed that. For some reason, he found himself drawn to the booth that Veronica had claimed.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, looking up as he collapsed in the seat across from her.

"Betty and Archie are back together," Jughead breathed out.

To his surprise, Veronica didn't seem very surprised by his statement. "So, he took my advice after all. Sorry...let me explain. I noticed the awkwardness between them the first night we all came back and asked him about it, and he confirmed it."

"So, they were dating even before they came back to Riverdale."

"Actually, they weren't," Veronica replied.

"I'm very confused."

"Then, listen up because I'm about to tell you everything I know, which isn't very much, by the way. Archie was pretty vague when he told me." Veronica took a deep breath before continuing, "Apparently, they never lost contact like we did. They stayed close. I don't know what triggered them to finally change their minds, but they actually started dating three years ago. Things were going well for them when something happened to Betty and it caused them to break up a year ago. I told him that it was clear he wasn't over her and that he shouldn't let her slip through his fingers."

Jughead could hardly breathe in his surprise. He had surmised as much from their conversation at the school that they had stayed in touch, but it was quite another to hear Veronica confirm it.

He wouldn't admit it aloud, but part of himself had been hoping that Betty was single. He hoped that, with high school over now, they could move past the petty drama and work to build something real between them again. Jughead spent seven years trying to move on from Betty only to discover that it was completely impossible.

At least for him.

It was clear that the same couldn't be said for Betty. Part of him was relieved that she hadn't started dating Archie immediately after they all went their separate ways. It meant that what they had was real at some point and she needed some time to move on (unless, of course, she dated people other than Archie, but Jughead couldn't picture that right now).

Yet, at the same time, Jughead thought it might be better if Betty was dating someone he didn't know and not the boy-man-he had envied for practically his entire life. It was heartbreaking for him to hear that Betty was able to move on while he wasn't.

"Jughead, you okay?" Veronica asked, giving him a concerned look. "Oh God...you didn't know they were together, did you?"

"No, I didn't know."

"I'm sorry, Jughead. Really, I am."

"Why didn't they tell me?" He murmured.

"I can't speak for either of them, but I do know that they would never want to hurt you, Jughead."

"Then why were you told?"

Veronica sighed. "Maybe because things are a little less complicated between Archie and I than things between you and Betty. I'm happily married now and so that might have helped clear the air a little bit. And only a fool would be able to ignore how much you are still in love with Betty Cooper."

None of that mattered anymore. Archie and Betty were head over heels in love with each other-that much he was able to gather from their conversation. "But she doesn't love me."

"I'm going to give you some advice that I once gave Betty. Nine times out of ten, the person we like doesn't like us back. Does it hurt like hell? Absolutely. But is it the end of the world? No. I thought Archie Andrews was the one for me and then I met Chadwick. And as it turns out, he is the one for me. It's going to hurt for a while, but one day, you will find someone who loves you just as much as you love them, even if it's not Betty Cooper."

"I've spent seven years trying to move on from her."

"There's no timeline to falling in love. You may find it today, tomorrow, or ten years from now. And if I may offer you one last piece of advice, stop looking for love. Most of the time, we don't find love; love finds us."

Jughead nodded, accepting Veronica's advice. It was probably the best love advice he had ever gotten and it meant so much more since he knew how she used to love Archie. If Veronica was able to move on, then Jughead should be able to as well.

"I don't even know how to do that," he replied.

"Well, for starters, you will never be able to move on unless you get some closure with Betty. So, talk to her. Get her perspective on everything and you may find that it helps you move on. I might have moved on from Archie years ago, but it was still a giant relief when I was able to talk to him and get some closure on our relationship."

They both fell silent for a few minutes. Finally, after doing much internal deliberating, Jughead asked, "Does it really help?"

"It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders."

Invigorated by his new purpose, Jughead stood up, thanked Veronica, and left Pop's. He would return for the night shift later, but right now he needed to get some closure. Veronica's advice might be the first step in helping Jughead move on from Betty. He practically ran over to her house. Jughead was thankful that Betty's car was in the driveway since it meant that she was home. Taking a deep breath to try and steady his pounding heart, Jughead climbed the steps up to the front porch and rang on the doorbell on the front door. Whatever breath was left in his lungs was blown away by the sight of Betty opening the door.

She had changed out of her fancy school clothes into grey Columbia sweatpants and a navy blue crewneck sweatshirt from the FBI. Her hair was tied back in a simple braid with a few strands escaping; her make-up was gone, which revealed the faint dark circles underneath her eyes. Jughead hoped that they were from staying up late with Archie instead of from nightmares, though he knew that was not the case.

"Uh...we need to talk. Can I come in?"

The last person Betty was expecting at the door was Jughead.

Archie had been spending enough time over at the house that he just came inside without knocking; Toni was polite enough to knock twice before entering and she often called or texted them beforehand to let them know she was coming; Kevin just came inside since he hated the doorbell; Veronica had not been over since their return to Riverdale, but Betty knew that she would be expecting girl talk sooner or later, especially since Archie had told her about their relationship. For some reason, Jughead being at her door had not even crossed her mind.

"Uh...we need to talk. Can I come in?" Jughead asked, nervously scratching the back of his head.

It took Betty a few seconds to process what he said before she nodded and opened the door wider for him to come inside. She hurried to the dining room, bribing her niece and nephew with ice cream and gave them a thirty-minute later curfew than normal in which they would have unlimited access to the TV remote in the basement. She had a feeling that was not going to be a friendly or short conversation.

"Sorry about that," she apologized, coming back into the living room where Jughead was waiting. "My mom is out right now, which means that I have the twins for the night."

"It's no problem."

"Uh...do you want coffee or tea or something?"

"Coffee, please."

Betty nodded and headed into the kitchen with Jughead on her heels. As she made the pot, Jughead settled himself in a chair at the island. They were silent as the coffee was made. It was only when Betty was pouring them both cups that one of them broke the awkward silence between them.

"So...what did you want to talk about?"

"I know about you and Archie. I heard your conversation in the teachers' lounge today,'' Jughead said after taking a big gulp of coffee.

Immediately, he saw the regret on Betty's face. "Fuck, I'm so sorry, Jug. We-no, I was waiting for the right moment to tell you. I wanted to tell you the right way, find a way that wouldn't hurt you."

"You failed remarkably at that," he replied, falling back into sarcasm as a coping mechanism.

"Yeah. I guess I did," Betty conceded.

"I'm not here to try and win you back, Betty. I understand that the time for that has long since passed. I'm here to hear the truth-it's the only way I'll ever be able to move on from you. You owe me that much."

"You're right," she said, agreeing with him once again. "I do owe you the truth." Sighing, Betty began at the beginning of their seven year separation.

"Archie and I stayed in touch after we graduated. At first, I think it was just because we both felt guilty over our group fracturing because of what we did, but we eventually got to a place where we were friends-best friends-again. It took us a long time to realize that we stayed in touch because neither of us wanted to live without each other. And it wasn't always easy to stay in touch. During basic training, Archie didn't have his phone and he only had phone privileges once a week, which he split between his mom and I; so, we mostly stuck to writing each other letters.'

"It was during this time that I realized something. I realized that I loved Archie and I knew he felt the same way about me, but we were afraid about hurting you and Veronica; we always were. That's part of the reason why we didn't reach out. Later on, it just became easier. We were building our own lives away from Riverdale and we knew that you and Veronica were, too. We didn't want to disrupt that by calling and bringing up bad memories."

"Okay," Jughead said. "I get why you didn't reach out. But what happened to the pact we all made?"

Betty sighed as she vividly remembered getting the call from his mom that he was seriously injured and being flown back to the States. It was one of the few times in her life where she had actually felt paralyzing fear and Betty would never be able to forget it.

"We were making plans to come to Riverdale. It was a little difficult timing wise since Archie was overseas and his tour could have easily been extended, which it has been a few times. But, he was expected to make it back just in time for us to catch a flight to Riverdale. And then…" she paused to take a deep breath, "I got the call that Archie had been injured. It was pretty bad; for a while, we didn't even know if he was going to make it. His mom helped me exchange my flight to Riverdale for one to Maryland and I didn't hesitate to go be by his side. By the time he got to the U.S., he was stable. But he was in no condition to leave the hospital and I wasn't doing much better emotionally. It completely slipped our minds.'

Jughead felt tears prick at his eyes as he realized that he almost lost his best friend and he didn't even know about it. For years, Jughead had been angry with his friends for skipping their reunion at Pop's; he never took the time to really consider why. He simply thought that they had moved on from him and Riverdale.

But to hear that Betty and Archie missed because one of their lives was in the balance was a valid reason for skipping their reunion. It made Jughead wonder just how much they had been through in seven years. He knew the Army was a dangerous career-everyone did-but to hear how close he was to losing his best friend (even if Betty was being extremely vague about the medical details, which he was thankful for) was something completely different. This affected Jughead personally. He had been so wrapped up in himself and his feelings that he had never stopped to consider what it was like for his two friends, who were regularly risking their lives so that Jughead could be wrapped up in his own problems.

"...How close was he?" Jughead finally managed to ask.

"Close," was all that Betty said. And all he could think about was that it must have been really bad if Betty refused to explain the finer details. She was sparing him from having to imagine what she had actually lived through.

They were silent for a long time afterwards, each too wrapped up in their own thoughts to really say much of anything. Eventually, however, Betty calmed herself down and began to speak again.

"Anyway, Archie repaid the favor when it was me in the hospital," she joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Unfortunately, the joke fell flat as Jughead said, "Why were you in the hospital?"

"Why do you think? I got shot. It wasn't as bad as Archie, though; I got shot in the shoulder during my first year with the FBI."

Betty pointed at the place in her shoulder where she knew the scar to be, wincing a little as she felt a twinge of pain from her shoulder. She made a mental reminder to take it easy with her left arm for the next few days in case it was acting up again.

"You okay?" Jughead asked, noticing her wince.

She waved him off and said, "I'm fine. It just acts up sometimes."

Recognizing that she wanted to move on, Jughead decided to move to the one of the last questions he had for now. He knew that Betty was not telling him everything, but Jughead was okay with that. He didn't need to know everything about their relationship-just enough that he would be able to find closure.

"So...how did you two finally start dating?"

"That one is rather personal, so I'm not going to give you details, but I will tell you that we got our act together. And dating Archie...it just felt completely natural-like it was meant to be. Not that we didn't have our problems because we did. But we had learned to compromise with each other by that point and talk things through. At least, we thought we did. The first three years were great. And then, last year, I...went through something pretty traumatic."

Even though Jughead wanted the truth, Betty was reluctant to tell him about his miscarrage. It was something that she would always be uneasy about. Cheryl was different; she was family and someone that Betty trusted implicitly. While Betty did trust Jughead, it was just different to tell her ex-boyfriend that she got pregnant and miscarried.

"I'm still working through it," she said instead. "Anyway, Archie and I both struggled with our feelings about the whole thing and we just...fractured. We both needed time to process it ourselves before trying to heal together, which he did. We're still working through some of the lingering issues from that, but we've both gotten to a healthy enough place to work through them together."

Jughead thought that Betty told him everything that nothing would change for him-that his feelings for her would always be there. But something had changed.

He still loved her-that wasn't going to change in the blink of an eye-but he understood Betty better now. She and Archie had been put through the ringer these past seven years and they always found their way back to each other. Betty didn't have to say it, but Jughead could tell that Betty loved Archie with every fiber of her being. And he certainly didn't need to see Archie to know that he loved her.

"Veronica was right," Jughead murmured.

"Sorry...what?"

"Before I came here, I ran into Veronica. She gave me some pretty good advice, including that I should talk to you."

"And what was she right about?"

"About me finding closure," he replied. "I think a part of me will always care for you, Betty, but it took me talking to you to figure out that I don't love you-not like I used to. You were familiar and comfortable and I thought that that was what I needed."

"Happy to have helped, Jughead."

"But I'm still going to need some time to get to a place where we can be friends."

"Of course."

"And that means that it would really help to not hear you and Archie talk about sex at school."

Betty felt her ears turn red as she blushed. "Sorry about that. We didn't think anyone was there, but I promise that we will try and be more careful, give you the time you need to move on."

"That's all I ask," Jughead replied, grabbing his things.

Before he left, Jughead turned back to look at Betty who was looking at him as well. "I'm happy that you found each other."

"Me too. You'll find that one day, too, Jughead."

Once he left, Betty grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to the woman who had set their conversation into motion.

Thank you, V.

So, he actually did it. Huh, I'm surprised. I'm also guessing that the talk went well.

Better than I could have expected. You give good love advice.

What can I say? Marriage has made me a very wise woman.

Yes, it has.

Oh, and ur welcome, B.

This chapter was always going to focus on Jughead and him dealing with the revelation that Betty and Archie are dating. I was going to include other characters in it, but I wanted to focus on him getting closure and felt that bringing in other characters and storylines would detract from the important lesson that Jughead learns in this chapter.

I could have had him sulking, depressed, and angry. I could have had him storming into the room and demand an explanation from Betty and Archie. But I didn't because I wanted to do something different than how most TV shows or movies would portray someone in this exact scenario. They do it for the drama, for the effect it has on the audience. In real life, closure is not found this way. Closure can be found in a variety of ways, but never like that.

For me, closure did not come from hearing the other person's perspective. As I mentioned in a previous note, I recently attended my grandfather's funeral where I had to see my mother and sisters for the first time in five years. It was awkward, which I expected. But it also gave me closure. Our five-year separation always made me wonder how my sisters were doing, if they missed my presence in their lives, if they thought about me as much as I thought about them, if they regretted how our parents' divorce separated us (side note: I chose to live with my father and my sisters chose to live with my mother). Seeing them in person allowed me to see them for myself. They hardly spoke to me unless I spoke to them first and even when we did speak, it was all superficial, surface-level conversation. This experience helped me realize that my sisters had moved on and that it was time for me to do the same. I know now that I will never be able to have a relationship with them and that whole experience has granted me the closure to where I am okay with that. It still hurts, but I am now in a place where I can move on.

I wanted Jughead to go through a slightly similar experience. His conversation with Betty gave him some insight to how much Betty loves Archie and gave him the courage to move on. The conversation at the beginning with Veronica was necessary to get to that point, especially since she was in the same boat he was in once.

Moving on is never easy and finding closure isn't either. It can take an instant or a it can take years, but it is worth it because you will feel so much better when you do. I can't say that you won't have an regrets (I know I still do), but we can't change the past. The only thing we can change is the future and how we choose to live that future.