A/N:

Hi everybody!
I know. I know that last chapter's ending was a bit mean, but hey, who doesn't crave a little cliffhanger from time to time? If I didn't end it there, the chapter would have been way too long anyway, so.
Here we are. Who's ready for some real talking and fluff?
Plenty of it in this chap!
As always, let me know what you think.
Love you!

WARNING: character death in this chapter

One of the shot missed JB's head by a hair just as Jughead felt a sharp blow to his left shoulder.

Then everything seemed to unfold in slow motion as another gun fired twice. He turned around and his knees failed him.

Betty heard a thud when a body collapsed to the floor and she heard JB scream.

"Oh my God" the young woman crumbled to floor under the weight of her brother's body. "Juggie!"

She was panicking, she had blood on her hands. "Betty! Betty he's been shot!"

Betty holstered her gun and took a few steps, kicking Penny's gun out of the way in the process. She crouched down and checked her pulse, just to be sure, but she hit her twice in the chest, her lifeless eyes were wide open, fixed on the ceiling. Penny Peabody was dead.

Then she rushed to help JB to lay her brother on his back on the floor to assess his injuries. He was conscious even though he was writhing in pain. He'd been shot on his left upper arm, near his Serpent tattoo and he was losing blood.

"Fuck it hurts!" Jughead managed to whimper as Betty gently rolled him on his right side and ran a hand around his arm.

"I know, Jug. I can see the exit wound, the bullet went through and out." Betty looked around, and saw JB's terrified expression. She'd never seen someone getting shot, let alone one of her family members and Jughead was the most important person in the whole world.

"It's ok, he's gonna be ok" she cracked a little smile to reassure JB who was sitting on the floor near them, clasping her hands together anxiously.

"JB!" Betty tried to shake her out of her trance. "Hey, listen to me," Betty said softly but firmly enough to draw her attention "Jug is gonna be fine but we need to stop the blood loss and get him to the hospital. I need your flannel."

JB's eyes were glued to his brother's bloody arm and she couldn't move so Betty reached for her shirt and loosened it from JB's waist and folded it a few times to make it more compact.

When she put a hand on the young woman's knee and squeezed she seemed to snap out of her reverie.

"You need to call 911, can you do that for me?"

When JB nodded, Betty took the phone out of her pocket and handed it to her. "Here."

JB dialed the emergency number and took a few steps towards the exit where the signal was stronger.

Betty kneeled beside Jughead again. "Jug? Jug!" His eyes were closed and she panicked, smacking his cheek lightly a couple of times.

He wrinkled his nose and shook his head, whining.

"Hey...hey! Open your eyes, come on."

He tentatively opened his eyes and focused on her face. "That's right. Look at me."

"Hey, Betty?" he groaned biting hard on his lip.

"What?"

"Stop slapping me" he groaned. Despite the seriousness of the moment, she couldn't help but smile.

Ok, he was alert and oriented now, so she could tell him what needed to be done.

"I need to put pressure on the wound now and it's gonna hurt. Bad."

She pressed the shirt hard down on the gash with her palms to stop the blood loss.

"Holy fuck!" He winced but managed to keep his eyes open to glare at her.

"How do you feel?"

"Like I just got shot? How do you think I feel?" He definitely had enough energy to argue.

"Do you have any other injuries?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"I don't think so. Penny kicked me a couple of times but, I've been through much worse..." he muttered trying to pull himself up into a sitting position, but she held him down pushing back with the palm of her other hand on his chest.

"No! You need to stay as still as possible until EMTs get here."

"You're so bossy..." he sighed and then looked at her as if he had just registered her presence.

"How did you know I was here, anyway?" Jughead frowned, suddenly remembering the harsh fight they had only a few hours before.

"Does it really matter?"

"Betty, for Christ's sake!"

"I'll explain everything later, right now you need to hear me out, before the paramedics get here, it's important" she was resolute.

His eyes were still stormy and sharp, but he nodded.

"They'll report your bullet wound to the police. It's standard procedure, they have to. Now, I'm pretty sure you don't have a license to carry a firearm, do you?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Guilty, agent Cooper" he replied with a smirk, lowering his voice. "Am I under arrest?"

Damn he'd just been shot and he had the audacity to flirt?!

His misplaced humor was getting on her nerves but Betty knew it was most definitely caused by the rush of endorphins flowing through his body. She rolled her eyes again and pushed down a little harder than necessary on his wound, just to emphasize the grave nature of the situation they were in.

"Ouch! You did that on purpose" he couldn't help but smile a little. He felt a bit dizzy and he couldn't tell if it was pain-induced or if this little banter between them was forcing warm feelings out of him. As the stab of pain subsided, however, she had his full attention.

"There's a dead body in here, Jug! Can you listen to me for a second?"

"Alright, shoot."

She deliberately chose to overlook his attitude and get back to the matter on hand.

"The police will ask questions. That gun," she pointed at it on the ground "must disappear. Otherwise you could be charged with illegal firearm possession and go to jail." Betty was in full ploy mode. He'd seen her acting like this so many times in the past that it immediately brought back memories from their teen-detective adventures.

"How do we do that?" he asked with resolve.

"We, don't do anything. I will take care of the gun, and you will forget about its existence. The sequence of events we'll give to the police is basically the truth: you came here to search for your sister, despite my advice, and when you were ready to leave, Penny ambushed you and tried to shoot you both. When I found you, I got in and identified myself, but she was going to fire her gun at me and I had no other choice than take a shot. It was self-defense."

"Ok."

This version was perfectly fine by him. She was right, he could go to jail, he didn't even have a carry permit and had no idea where the gun actually came from. It's not like he'd given much thought to the possible consequences when he asked Sweet Pea to get him a weapon.

Besides, he wouldn't even dream to get Betty in trouble stating to the police that she didn't properly identify herself as an FBI agent in the warehouse. Penny knew that trying to shoot a fed could only bring trouble her way, the police didn't need to know the smallest, insignificant details leading to her death.

He was starting to show signs of discomfort, he had blood dripping down his arm and despite her efforts to contain the damage, Betty knew he needed surgery to stitch him up. Fast.

"The ambulance will be here soon, Jug, hang on. I'm no doctor but I've seen gunshot wounds before and yours doesn't look that bad. You'll be fine."

She was trying to reassure herself in the first place. She was no expert, but there was a lot of blood.

Jughead took a few deep breaths. "If you say so...right now my arm feels completely numb."

"They're going to fix you up."

He nodded. "Thank you, Betty."

Betty didn't say anything, she just smiled, and that dizzy feeling inside his chest seemed to grow even more. She wrapped the damp flannel around his wound and fastened a knot to keep it tight, then he saw her get back on her feet and take off her blouse. She used it to pick up his gun and wipe away any fingerprints off the handle and the whole surface before wrapping it all around it and tucking it away in her handbag. For a moment he thought about asking her what she would do with it, but he already knew Betty would never tell him. For his own safety.

A few minutes later they heard the sirens of the ambulance approaching and JB was back at his side.

It all went down as Betty predicted and Jughead was taken to the hospital for a check up. Before they left, she heard the EMTs say that considering he'd suffered from a blood loss, his parameters were good and that there was an operating team waiting for surgery. JB went with him on the ambulance, while Betty waited for the police to arrive to give her statement.

Later that night Betty was on the couch, sipping a glass of wine and decided to call JB to check on her and Jughead. She wouldn't want to wake him up in case he was sleeping. A chirpy voice answered a few moments later.

"Hey Betty."

"Hey JB, I'm sorry I'm calling this late, did I wake you?"

"No, don't worry. I'm way too nervous to sleep right now."

She could relate, the rush of adrenaline still keeping her awake and worked up.

"I just got back from the station. I called to check on you. How are you?"

"Still a bit shaken up, but...I'm alive and without a scratch, thanks to you."

"I'll always be there for you, you know that."

"I know."

Betty and JB developed a very close relationship since the very beginning, when the Cooper and Jones families lived together in the house on Elm street. JB looked at Betty as an older sister but then after the whole auteur situation, her father decided it would be better for her to take a break from Riverdale and brought her back to Toledo, to stay with her mother.

They kept in touch, texted and called each other but never met again until that night.

"Have you called your dad yet?"

"No. If I do I'm sure he'd get on the road in the middle of the night. But there's really nothing he can do now. I'll text him in the morning."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Listen, are you still with your brother?" she asked.

"No, he sent me home a couple of hours ago to get some rest, he's still at the hospital. Why?"

"I just wanted to know if everything was alright."

"They wouldn't tell me much right away when they brought him in, he was in surgery for an hour. I was scared!"

"I know."

"He's stitched up and stable now, thank God! The doctor said he was lucky."

"I'm glad to hear that. Uhm...Remember what I told you about your statement to the police."

"No problem Betty, after what you did for us, that's the least I can do. Thank you."

"Alright, I'll let you sleep now. Talk to you soon."

"Bye."

She called the hospital then, to speak to the doctor who treated Jughead only to find out he signed to be discharged early, against his professional opinion.

Typical of Jughead Jones.

She disconnected the call and grabbed her coat before heading out to her car.

Fifteen minutes later she was knocking at the wooden door of his cabin. It was well after 2 a.m and the only sounds audible outside were night animals and the gentle flow of the river.

When he came to open, she saw that he had managed to partially change into some clean clothes. Paramedics surely had to cut his sweater open with scissors to avoid moving his injured shoulder before they could put proper bandages on him on their way to the hospital, since they didn't know if he had any broken bones.

Betty was standing in his doorway glowering, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, hello to you too!" Jughead declared.

"Why are you here?"

"This is my cabin, you know." His ironic remark made her scowl even more.

He had most likely took a shower despite his doctor's certain restriction to make any kind of movement, because he was barefoot his hair was still wet and he smelled of soap and a very light cologne. He wore a pair of dark gray pajama pants and for Christ's sake he didn't bother to wear a shirt. He was probably about to go to bed, he could sleep naked as far as she was concerned.

"Do you always open the door like this?" she questioned trying to hide her flush with a joke.

"It depends, do you always knock on people's doors at 2 in the morning?" he quipped taking a swig from the water bottle in his hand.

Guilty as charged!

"You should be at the hospital, Jug!" she admonished running a hair through her hair.

He seemed fine but he'd been beaten up and he surely would benefit from a night under close observation.

As she walked past him and into the room, she quickly checked him out from head to toe.

She told herself she was making sure he was in the proverbial one piece, but in reality her gaze lingered a tad too much on his arms and torso to be considered just a detached friendly look.

"I'm fine, the doctor said I need to check in with him in a few hours, but he cleared me" he explained as he opened the door further to let her in.

"Dr Grayson cleared you because you insisted on signing the discharge papers."

"I simply know my rights."

"Oh, so you did not threaten him to write an exposée about the powers that be holding honest citizens hostage in healthcare facilities?"

"I admit I might have forced his hand a little bit, but...honestly, there wasn't that much they could do after they stitched me up and fed me some painkillers and antibiotics. I have no broken bones, just a few bruises. They'd be just watching me sleep."

"Yes, that is the point of remaining under observation." She was talking to him like you would with a stubborn toddler.

"I wanted to rest in a real bed and take a hot shower. Sue me. How did you know I was here anyway?"

"I called the hospital to check on you."

He sighed deeply. "Of course you did." He wasn't surprised at all. Betty was persistent, for one thing.

"By the way, JB doesn't know about your charade, she still thinks you're at the hospital." She made it clear that she kept his secret.

"You called her too, didn't you?"

"Seeing you being shot and all bloody in that warehouse really had her all shaken up. I wanted to make sure she was alright. I care about her."

He smiled then, and she felt her insides getting warm. Even with his lip cut and and various bruised scattered on his face and upper body, he was hot. Penny Peabody had made his beautiful face bleed and she'd shoot her again if she could. Fortunately it seemed to be a reasonably small cut and the doctors didn't put stitches on it, it needed to heal by itself.

As if on cue, Jughead run the tip of his tongue on the offended part lifting his gaze on hers, and Betty's jaw dropped reflexively.

He did that on purpose. The bastard!

"Are you done?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Can you put a shirt on or something?" Betty's comeback made him laugh, the fact that he was half-naked was making her uncomfortable.

"I tried," he sighed. And it was true. He was holding one of his old t-shirts in his right hand and waived it in front of him "but I can't lift my arm, it hurts. I guess you'll have to deal with me being half-naked." He was way too much entertained by their renewed banter.

She diverted her attention and took a look around, noticing he had started the fireplace and the whole room felt warm and intimate and somehow it was like all the screaming and fighting happening just hours before in that very same room had been pushed out of the way. The atmosphere seemed nice and quiet between them. Normal.

Jughead went to the fridge and offered her a water bottle.

"So...how did it go with the authorities?" he asked, changing the subject.

Betty took off her coat and hanged it on the back of a chair.

"The sheriff took in my statement, they'll be contacting you and JB, of course. I already told her to forget she ever saw you with a gun, I think we're clear." Betty took a gulp of water.

"Good." Jughead sighed. "Look, Betts, I'm sorry for the things I said to you on the phone. I was pissed off and rude. I know it wasn't your fault and that you just had to follow orders, I understand."

Betty nodded. "Will you tell me what happened with Penny, now?"

"I think it's only fair, since you literally saved my life tonight" he sat on the couch and invited her to do the same.

"When you brought the FBI upon her to blew up her deal with the Mexicans and seized almost her entire stash, she guessed the Serpents had tipped you in, and planned her revenge in the old-fashioned way. She had me followed, I presume, so she knew I had to meet with my sister at the train station. She kidnapped her before I could get there and she did it to get back at me. She knew I'd come running to save her."

"You should have told me, Jug. The SWAT team was still in town..."

"Betty, after the fucking disaster of the raid I really couldn't bring myself to involve the FBI again. SWAT operations go wrong all the time and hostages get killed."

"That's merely based on stats..."

"Oh, come on! You're smarter than that and so am I!" His brows were furrowed and she could see his shoulders tense up.

"I only meant that you shouldn't have gone there by yourself. If not the FBI or me..." her words were full of regret and anguish "you could've brought at least Sweet Pea or Fangs."

"I thought I could handle her on my own. She had my sister, Betty, you know I'd do anything for the ones I love, my family and my crew."

"I know." The image of FP carrying his apparently lifeless body that night of many years ago still haunted her dreams sometimes.

They remained in complete silence for a while.

"When we were here earlier," she spoke closing her eyes "you were so upset because of me and what I had done and then you left. I tried to call you multiple times but it went straight to voicemail and I knew you didn't want anything to do with me..."

"JB was held captive, Betty, of course I was upset." He interrupted. He sensed where the conversation was heading.

"And later at the warehouse," her lips were quivering and she was unable to keep her voice steady.

"Penny took JB because the FBI blew up her lucrative business. You were upset because the whole FBI involvement was my idea! You were so outraged, stormed away and you almost got killed! I feel fucking responsible!"

"Are you kidding me? It doesn't even matter whose idea it was anymore. What's done is done. Penny is dead. My sister is safe, I'm safe. I was the one who got distracted and almost got killed! What happened to me in that warehouse is not your fault. I would have gone anyway, even if you never showed up at the cabin this afternoon, even if we didn't have that fight..."

"But you were angry" she repeated "for what I did. For Archie..."

"Damn fucking right I was, Betty! What would you expect?"

"When you ran off on your bike I was so scared! At some point I didn't even care if it would piss you off, if Toni hadn't called me I would have traced your damn phone's location" she confessed.

"I know you can be resourceful" he smiled.

Toni had sent him a message when he was still at the hospital, letting him know she was the one who tipped in Betty, asking for backup – he could picture her grilling Pea or Fangs to tell her where he was exactly – and that she wasn't sorry for it and to suck it up if he was angry. Normally he would have told her to fuck off, but he was actually glad Betty showed up at the right time.

"I didn't do it just for you, you know."

Jughead's expression was a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"If you'd died tonight, I wouldn't been able to see you or talk to you ever again. And I have some things I need to say."

"Betty, I really think we shouldn't..."

"Actually, I think we should. We've waited long enough" she said shrugging "we need some resemblance of closure. Especially after what happened tonight! I need to tell you everything about me and Archie, and you need to hear it. I just wish it'll give you some peace of mind. And if you'll still want to hate or despise me after that and don't ever want to see me, I'll live with it. But I'm hoping we'll be able to be friends again."

There had been a time when they were real friends, close friends. But that first kiss, when he crawled in her bedroom through her window and finally took the courage to show her just how much he cared, changed everything. For both of them. And besides, after what happened at the Whyte Wyrm it could be quite difficult to define them as friendly to one another.

There was more, so much more, hiding underneath the surface disguised by the facade they were both keeping up.

She got up from the couch and started pacing around, unable to sit still.

"The last thing I wanted was to break your heart, you have to believe me. I loved you, and I hate myself because I didn't tell you about the kiss as soon as it happened. Damn, I couldn't even look you in the eyes that night! The way you whispered 'Oh no...' after I said I needed to tell you something killed me. Your voice sounded so broken, it haunted me for months. It still does sometimes..." she felt her eyes swell with tears and she wiped them away. No more pushing back.

"Why didn't you tell me right away?"

"I wanted to, but it never seemed like the appropriate time. I don't know. And I guess I was afraid of your reaction."

"I always forgave you. Every single fucking time, Betty. You could have told me. There's no right time to tell someone you made a mistake, better than right after it happens. But you didn't say anything for weeks! And if I never asked about Veronica and Archie, you'd probably never tell me."

"I felt like shit, believe me. I was ashamed and took the coward's way out. But when you mentioned Archie and Veronica being weird at prom, I knew I had to come clean. And after a day or two it was obvious that something had changed between us. We were sleeping in the same bed but we couldn't be farther apart. From the outside, you were sweet and caring as always but the more I craved your closeness, the more you grew distant and wouldn't even touch me."

"It was one of the hardest moments of my whole life, Betty. I loved you and you broke my heart. Being physically close to you hurt like hell."

"I know, that's when I realized that you would never be able to forgive me again. Everything fell apart and the absolute and utter certainty that I was responsible for it all was too much to bear. And for what? For a stupid kiss that really meant nothing!"

Her gaze was fixed on the fire, the flames reflecting in her green irises.

"I chose to focus on Yale and then on the FBI training because that was easier to do, I was too ashamed to admit that I was the one who fucked things up. I cheated on you and betrayed your trust."

She looked at him for a second, gauging his reaction. Jughead was sitting in the same spot listening to her, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands folded underneath his chin, his expression unreadable.

"Archie and I met again three years ago when we were both in town for Thanksgiving, neither of us were dating at the time, we felt lonely and...it happened. We slept together" she exhaled.

Jughead closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep unwanted NC-17 rated Barchie images to pop up in his brain.

He got on his feet and paced around the living room.

"It was just sex, Jug, and then each of us went back to our lives, because as much as I'd have liked to fool myself thinking that maybe Archie and I would eventually make sense and fulfill some damn cheesy teen fantasy...we simply didn't. Now I know we never made sense!" she laughed at herself, biting the inside of her cheek.

"I am sorry. I really am. And now you know everything. No more secrets."

"The problem with trust Betty, is that is way much easier to loose it than to earn it."

"I know that." Her voice was filled with pain, her heart clenching hard in her chest. "I'll do everything to prove myself to you again, if you'll allow me to."

She stared through the big windows at the river in the distance.

Jughead had been watching her the whole time. He'd thought so many times about when and how they'd eventually take it all out and talk about their breakup, sure that he'd feel better hearing Betty apologize.

Except...he didn't feel better at all.

His silence was killing her. She felt so sad, exposed and heartbroken and she knew exactly what he must have went through that night in her room when she confessed about kissing Archie. She understood the true meaning of anguish.

"Jug, say something..." she couldn't get herself to turn around and look at him, but she could feel his eyes on her.

"Do you love him?" he asked. His tone a little more severe than he'd intended it to be. It was all or nothing. He needed to know, though it felt like he was about to dig even deeper in is chest and rip his heart out.

Betty felt completely distraught, her eyes red and puffy. She had been crying relentlessly without even realizing it.

"I think I loved him at some point...when...when we were kids. I never even knew what love meant back then. I liked him and the fact that he was nice to me and I thought that was it, love. Silly me. And then, there was you and I fell in love for real. It's always been you ever since. Archie is a friend. I care for him as a friend, like I do for Kevin."
She made a little pause, overwhelmed by her own emotions.

"But in the end, I've...I've never felt for him what I felt for you, Jug. I don't think I could, ever."

Betty let out a long shaky breath like she'd been holding it for hours.

There was silence, once more. The only sound was coming from the burning wood inside the fireplace.

Betty had finally let it all out, years of pain and guilt and although it seemed the right thing to do, in that precise moment she felt stupid and wanted to go home, curl up in a ball and cry herself to sleep.

"I'm really sorry."

His silence, she thought, was a clear sign that he was done with her for good so Betty headed for the door and turned the handle.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he still sounded worked up, but she could sense something else, something even more raw and deep than anger, something wild and strong that made her knees tremble. When she didn't answer he moved in her direction, his hand pushing against the door, slamming it shut, effectively trapping her between the thick wood and his body.

His voice trembled. "Do you love me?"

"Jug, please. Let me go...

"No. You fucking owe me this. No running away this time. If there's the slightest chance that you still feel something for me, anything at all, just say it" he whispered in her ear and Betty felt her heart clench.

His voice was incredibly soft, a quiet prayer underlining his words, getting so close to her that the heat radiating from his body spread like wild fire against her back.

His jaw was tight and his whole body was tense. He took her wrist and turned her around, taking a step backwards. Betty looked him in the eyes and almost melted at the depth she saw.

"Do you love me, Betty?"

The moment she realized she'd waited with dread and excitement since they bumped into each other at the gas station weeks prior, had finally come.

His gaze shifted from her lips to her eyes and back down, his breath labored. Hell, he'd probably want to kiss her anyway, there and then, even if she didn't utter a word at all.

"Yes. I love you." And there it was, the undeniable truth. He'd waited so long to hear those words fall from her mouth.

You guys better buckle up and grab a fan because it's about to get hot in there...