Archie and Betty sat together in a booth at Pop's waiting for their dinner companion to arrive. Archie's arm was around her shoulder to provide comfort as she fidgeted nervously with her fingers. FP had arranged the airing of grievances meal at Pop's for the trio. Betty had been a bit reluctant to agree, but FP knew how to push her buttons.
"Betts, he knows we're together," Archie's thumb caressed her arm.
"Yes, but this is different," Betty replied, "He deserves an apology, and we all need to clear the air. We haven't really been together since we all went our separate ways after graduation."
"I suppose I should apologize for making moves on his girl," Archie conceded.
"Now that I think about it, I should send V some flowers," Betty nodded, "Kissing her boyfriend was not my finest moment as a friend."
"Maybe not, but the kiss was pretty awesome," Archie smiled.
"Thanks," Betty blushed.
"Are you two waiting for someone to join you, or are you ready to order?" Pop came over.
"How about a couple of strawberry shakes while we wait," Betty suggested.
"Coming up," Pop smiled, "It's good to see you two together again, like going back in time."
"Just trying to keep you young, Pop," Archie smiled.
"From your mouth to God's ears," Pop smiled at them before bending down, "FP told me your news. Congratulations."
Betty shook her head, "Please keep it to yourself, Pop. My mom doesn't know yet and neither does Mary."
"I've kept so many secrets over the years," Pop chuckled, "I should be considered the vault of Riverdale."
"Only for a few days more," Betty chuckled, "We're telling them both tomorrow."
"Mom over Skype; Alice over dinner with FP, who is going to act surprised, right?" Archie looked towards Betty.
She shrugged, "He said he would. Hopefully he can pull it off."
"Two strawberry shakes, coming up," Pop disappeared behind the counter.
"I think FP is excited to be a step-grand papa," Betty laughed.
"Can we lose the step part? He's the only grandfather our baby will have," Archie said.
Betty considered his words and nodded, "Yeah, you're right. No step needed."
Archie grinned and pressed his lips to hers for a sweet kiss. Just as they parted the bell rang announcing someone had entered the diner.
Betty looked over and smiled, "Hey, Jug."
"Yeah, hey," Jughead was noticeably a bit uncomfortable as he took a seat across from them in the booth, "How's it going?"
"Thanks for coming," Archie smiled, "I'm sure dinner with us isn't high on your list."
"We said we'd get together after the wedding. FP said I had to come if I had any hope of keeping a roof over my head. He also said I'd get a free meal out of the deal," Jughead stated.
"Yeah, order whatever you want," Betty bobbed her head, "It's on us."
Jughead got Pop's attention. The trio put in their dinner orders, Jughead purposely ordering more than he usually would if he was buying his own.
Betty looked at Archie and slid her hand into his under the table. He squeezed gently, stirring his shake absently before looking at Jughead.
"We going to talk or eat first?" Jughead asked.
"That depends. Are you going to stay if you don't like the news?" Betty asked.
"At least until the food is gone," Jughead shrugged.
"Look, we wanted to clear the air a bit," Archie cleared his throat, "I know you and me sort of just ignored what happened senior year, but the three of us need to talk it out."
"I really don't want to talk about you two locking lips behind my back," Jughead replied.
Betty nodded, "I get that, but Jug, you clench your jaw every time you see us together. We're going to be in each other's lives as long as Mom and FP want to be together. I've spent every holiday sleeping the hunting lodge at Thornhill in the off chance you wanted to see your dad and sister when he would come see my mom. Now, I'm living next door, and I don't plan to vacate the premises when you want to see your dad and JB. I know we screwed up in high school, but Archie and I are together now."
"For the moment," Jughead muttered.
"For keeps," Archie looked Jughead in the eye.
"Jug, me and Archie are really good, better than good," Betty replied, "We're planning a future together."
"Congratulations," Jughead responded sarcastically.
"Look, me kissing Betty in high school when she was still your girlfriend was a dick move, and I'm really sorry," Archie replied.
"Yeah, it was," Jughead muttered.
"And I should have come clean as soon as it happened," Betty chimed in.
"We should have come clean as soon as it happened," Archie amended, "There were a lot of things going on at the end of the year, and there were a lot of conflicting emotions all over the place. It's not an excuse, but it's a reason."
"Would have been better if you'd just gotten together sophomore year," Jughead snapped at them.
"We weren't ready," Betty replied, "Even after high school graduation, we still weren't ready. We needed to figure out who we were anyway from Betty and Archie."
"And now that you have?" Jughead asked.
"We're not asking for your blessing," Betty said, "We just wanted you to know about us before you heard it somewhere else."
"Thank you for the courtesy this time," Jughead said.
Betty took a deep breath, "There's one more thing."
"Betts, my turn," Archie said.
"You sure?"
"Yeah," Archie nodded and then looked at Jughead, "Before it's public knowledge, we want you to know something else."
"Okay," Jughead nodded.
"We're having a baby," Archie said.
Jughead's face froze in surprise. "Baby?" he coughed out.
"It's still a bit early," Betty added, "We just entered the second trimester, like literally today."
"Wait," Jughead frowned, as he appeared to be doing the math in his head, "We're like two months out of college."
Betty sighed heavily, "After I left Northwestern to escape Louis's evil wrath, I went to stay with Archie at his dorm until the end of the term. We weren't together yet, not officially anyways, but I asked him or rather..."
She trailed off. She didn't want to get too personal with the details.
"Look, things were bad for Betty," Archie chimed in, "She wanted support, and I offered her support in any way I could."
"I bet you did," Jughead snorted.
"Hey, don't be a jerk, Jug," Betty scowled at her ex, "Archie was there when I needed him, like he's always been. He was really the only guy I could trust in that moment, and I won't let you make what happened between us seem dirty or icky or whatever other nonsense your head is whipping up."
Jughead shook his head, "You had other choices, Betty."
"All of who were well known to Louis," Betty said, "He'd met Cheryl, and I can't tell you how many times I mentioned Kevin. Even you were out of the question. He thought the fact that I'd dated my pseudo stepbrother was hilarious. Archie was the only one I didn't really talk about."
"So what, I'm just supposed to forgive you both for shacking up and creating life?" Jughead asked.
"I don't know about Archie, but I'm not asking for your forgiveness," Betty said, pushing her way out of the booth, "If anything you should be thanking me and Archie for not sharing your interesting story about the Floret family with Cheryl. I'll be right back. I need some air."
Betty pushed her way out of the booth as Archie reached for her hand. She gave him a slight smile before making her escape.
"You really are a dick sometimes," Archie scowled at his best friend when he returned to his seat.
"I'm a dick?"
"Yes," Archie nodded, "You know this whole thing was Betty's idea. She thought you deserved to hear our news from us before we sprung it on your parents tomorrow. I think we should've let you hear it from town gossip. Your hands aren't clean in all of this either. You got together with Betty when you knew my feelings for her. You want to talk about dick moves? That's the very definition in my book."
With that Archie got up and went up to the counter. He had a short conversation with Pop, handed him some money and took a bag, before he headed out the door.
Jughead watched as Archie approached Betty, wrapping her in his arms before coaxing her into his truck.
Pop appeared in front of Jughead, practically dropped the food on the table and walked away without a word.
Back at Archie's house, Archie watched as Betty paced back and forth in the kitchen while he set their meals out, "Betts, you need to eat."
"I expected him to be upset. Maybe I'm overreacting, but was he being downright mean?" Betty asked.
"You're not overreacting. He was playing the innocent victim," Archie caught her around the waist and tugged her into his lap, "You tried to take the high road. He was the one who couldn't deal."
"I miss him sometimes, you know? Not as a boyfriend, but as someone I grew up with," Betty frowned, "Someone who took my side when things were stacked against me, like that incident with the pig's blood."
Archie bobbed his head, "I remember wanting to slam whoever did that through a wall."
"Yeah," she bobbed her head, "I guess I figured that even though he'd be mad or hurt, he'd see that I'm happy and things would be okay."
"He probably just needs time," Archie caressed her shoulder, "He's realizing that he's lost you for good. That's got to be quite painful."
Betty smiled and tucked her head into his chest.
Archie pulled her meal closer to him, "Eat, for me and our baby."
"Okay," she grasped a few fries and started munching.
Archie bent his head and kissed her shoulder before grabbing a few fries of his own.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Betty asked in between bites.
"No," he shook his head slightly, "Telling our parents will be a piece of cake compared to tonight."
"Yeah, your mom will be thrilled; Alice not so much," Betty replied, "Another daughter having a kid out of wedlock?"
"She'll come around," Archie assured her, just as there was a knock at the door.
Betty and Archie traded a surprised look. "Who would that be?"
"It's probably Cheryl and Toni," Archie smirked, "Didn't you mention telling Jug to them?"
"Yes, and now I'm thinking I should dig out that copy of that story he wrote on the Floret family and give it to Cheryl," Betty pushed to her feet and headed for the door.
Betty was stunned to find Jughead on the other side of the door. "Jug, what are you doing here?"
Before he could answer, Archie called, "Betts, who is it?"
"My stepbrother," Betty's voice was a bit cold.
"Have you come by to be more of a jerk?" Archie got between Jughead and Betty, "We're not interested."
"I owe you guys an apology," Jughead replied, "You were trying to do the right thing, the decent thing, and I guess I let all the crap I felt senior year come spewing out."
Betty put her chin on Archie's shoulder, and looked at Jughead, "Have you finish eating?"
Jughead held up his bag, "Pop was shooting daggers at me with his eyes, so I had my dinner packed up."
"Good, then you won't try to steal our dinners. Come in," Betty invited.
"Are we good?" Archie stood in Jughead's way for a moment. He refused to let his friend into the house if he was going to cause Betty any more heartache.
"Yeah, I mean, it will probably take me some time to wrap my head around everything, but yeah, we're good," Jughead replied.
"Then come eat with us," Archie agreed.
Betty took a seat and Archie pulled his meal away to the space beside her as Jughead sat down, looking around, "This place looks different."
"It's not all that different," Betty glanced around, "Maybe some new appliances. Archie has been talking about renovating the second level, but it's still in the planning stages."
"I went by to say hello to your dad the other day," Jughead looked towards Archie.
Betty looked at Archie who smiled at Jughead's admission.
"He always liked you, Jug," Archie smiled.
"I still expect to see him leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee," Jughead replied.
"Yeah, we do too sometimes," Betty smiled as she reached for Archie's hand.
Archie gratefully let her hand wrap around his, "You guys were great to me during that time."
"We loved him, too, Arch," Jughead said.
"Yeah," Archie bobbed his head.
"Dad told me you're working for the Greendale Gazette," Jughead tried to shift away from the heaviness of the conversation, "Have you identified any serial killers yet?"
"No, I've been keeping a low profile," Betty said, "I'm not looking for trouble right now."
"Yeah, I suppose that bun will keep you on the back burner for awhile," Jughead replied.
"Hey, behave," Archie warned him.
"It's okay, Arch," Betty assured him, "Priorities have shifted, Jug."
"Yeah, I guess they have."
"Did you bring dessert?" Betty asked.
"Yeah, Pop must have thrown in some slices of pie," Jughead looked into the bag, "Hope you're okay with cherry."
"That sounds so good," Betty smiled.
"She's got a wicked sweet tooth right now," Archie smiled.
"He learned the hard way last night to not get in between me and my cake," Betty smirked.
"Yeah, definitely don't try taking a bite of any of her desserts," Archie chuckled, "Want some ice cream, Babe?"
"Yeah, that would be awesome," Betty bobbed her head.
"Okay, hold on here," Jughead interrupted the moment, "I'm going to work on getting okay with the two of you being a thing, but can you keep the pet names and the PDA's to a minimum?"
"But I'm horny," Betty whined.
"I didn't need to hear that…wait, you're messing with me, aren't you?"
"A little bit, yeah," Betty giggled.
"Only a bit," Archie chimed in, "She is a bit randy right now."
"That phrase never leaves your lips ever again, Andrews," Jughead tried to sound menacing, but tone came off more amused.
"Speaking of phrases that never leave your lips," Betty looked at Jughead, "Nothing from tonight better appear in your novel, Jug, or I will hurt you."
"Or anything from Betty's relationship with Louis, or your relationship with her for that matter," Archie stated, "We heard what you did with Cheryl's family. That wasn't cool, Jughead. Cheryl's our friend. She deserves better than you using her family for your own personal gain."
"I was wondering about that. How exactly did you see it?"
"Your professor must have trade agreements with professors at Archie's school for peer review. You were one of the chosen. A friend of Archie's put the pieces of the puzzle together for us and then got us copies to read for ourselves," Betty said.
"Ah, crap," Jughead replied, "That really was just an assignment. Only my professor was supposed to see it."
"From here on out, all the crap we went through in high school, it's all out the window," Archie told him, "Using Betty's dad or your brother for your inspiration, it's just not happening."
Jughead looked at his ex-girlfriend who was looking at her plate and sighed, "Understood."
"We mean it, Jug," Betty gathered her courage to look at him, "I read one word that feels even vaguely familiar without my permission, you're going to be walking funny for the rest of your life, and I have the hormones right now to not only follow through but get away with it scot free."
"So does Toni, by the way," Archie mentioned
"Got it," Jughead nodded.
Archie grabbed the ice cream from the freezer and scooped out a healthy helping for his girlfriend, and then offered his friend a scoop.
"Just like old times," Betty dug into her dessert like a woman possessed.
"Except I was usually the one who ate like I was about to walk the green mile," Jughead smirked.
"Hey, I'm eating for two, you jerk," Betty kicked him in the shin.
"Old times indeed," Archie chuckled.
TBC…