Three months later

The diner's fluorescent sign shone brightly over the orange-streaked sky as the motorcycle pulled to a stop in the parking lot. It was 7:30 pm on a Friday in late May, and even with the feel of the approaching summer in the air, the sun setting left behind a cool breeze.

Betty shivered slightly as she unbuckled her glittery pink helmet and clipped it to the handlebars of the motorcycle she'd just been on the back of.

As she straightened her back, a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. While his embrace immediately enveloped her in a cocoon of warmth, the coolness of the leather jacket he donned combined with his strong arms around her sent tingles to her stomach and she shivered again.

"Hey Betts, you cold?" her boyfriend asked, his soft lips tickling against her ear.

"A little," she whispered back.

He wrapped his arms around her stomach tighter, squeezing her against his body. "Better?" he asked.

"Mmm," she murmured, letting her head fall back against his shoulder for a moment, before turning her head up slightly to catch a glimpse of his hooded sapphire eyes. "You're not gonna give me your jacket?" she asked teasingly.

"Would you take it?" he responded, his features settling into a smirk. He'd heard enough of her rants about how distasteful she found the possessiveness of a girl parading her boyfriend's jacket around in public to take her question seriously.

"No," she replied with a giggle.

"Well, there's your answer," he said. His fingers creeped under the tight long-sleeved striped shirt she wore to grab her waist and spin her around so she now faced toward him. "But if we were alone…" he started, stringing her hands around his neck, and then tracing down the outline of her upper body until he reached her lower back. Their bodies clung together as if they were slow dancing and they stared heatedly into each other's eyes. "I'd tell you to put my jacket on. With nothing underneath. And you'd do it."

Feeling the familiar, yet still delectable, arousal between her legs, Betty smiled mischievously up at him and tilted her head, daring him to go on. His lips curved into a grin, and his fingers coasted back under her shirt to touch the silky skin. He gently pressed her lower back forward, prompting her mouth to come within mere centimeters of his. She tried to lean forward to kiss him but he held her in place, exhaling a series of hot breaths against her lips and purposefully driving her wild. "Juggy," she started to whine, but before she could get the last syllable of his nickname out, his mouth was searing and demanding against hers, kissing her thoroughly. She moaned at the contact, running her hands through his sleek, dark hair, and letting his kiss consume her.

"Not cold now," she whispered against his lips when they finally broke for air, and Jughead pulled back, his eyes darkening in desire as he studied her flushed face and pink bee-stung lips. He looked like he was two seconds away from dragging her to the side of the diner and taking her right there.

"Do you guys need a room?" they heard a feminine voice call in amusement, breaking their reverie. Betty felt Jughead release his secure hold on her, keeping one hand lazily against her back as she turned to see Archie and Veronica walking arm-in-arm across the parking lot toward them.

"Hi guys," Betty responded with an embarrassed but cheerful smile.

"I swear, Archiekins, they're becoming worse than us," Veronica said with a gloating smile, as they approached the other couple.

"Nobody's worse than you two, Veronica," Jughead quipped, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. He removed his hand from Betty's back, instead taking one of her own in his and interlacing their fingers to walk up to the door to Pop's.

"Please Forsythe, don't think you're fooling me with that wolfish grin," the brunette parried back, using Jughead's real name, which she always did when trying to get a rise out of him. "I know exactly what you were thinking of doing if we hadn't shown up."

Betty giggled as the two couples entered the diner and Jughead gasped in mock hurt. "What are you laughing at, Elizabeth?" he teased, using their entwined hands to pull her closer to him. "It takes two to tango," he whispered gruffly in her ear, and Betty felt herself blushing again as the goosebumps formed on her skin.

Veronica sighed, loudly, motioning to them to come sit in the booth Archie was claiming. "Do we need to separate you two?"

"I promise we'll behave, Principal Lodge," Jughead said with a fake salute, and Veronica stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Archie and Betty both laughed as the four teens took their seats. A waitress promptly came to take their dinner order, with Veronica insisting on saving the milkshakes for dessert, despite Jughead's protestations. Betty watched happily as her boyfriend and best friend continued to poke fun at each other, with Archie making futile attempts to keep the peace. Jughead and Veronica bickered like siblings, a dynamic that could sometimes be tiring, but which Betty was ultimately very grateful for. She had been worried at first about Jughead joining her to hang out with her friends, despite him already being close with Archie, but it had felt surprisingly seamless, as if they'd all always been in each other's lives. Now, three months after she and Jughead had officially become a couple, the four of them (plus Kevin when he didn't mind "fifth-wheeling" as he called it) were nearly inseparable.

"Earth to B," Veronica called, breaking her thoughts and Betty looked up expectantly to see the brunette peering at her with a sly smile. "I hope you're not picturing new positions to try out with Forsythe over here."

"Ronnie…" Arche groaned. "Don't put that stuff in my head."

"No," Betty said with a laugh, blushing instinctively in spite of herself. Her expression then turned serious. "Honestly, I'm just really happy to be here tonight. At Pop's. With all of you."

In her previous life, she would have been getting ready to be picked up by Jason for the senior prom happening tonight. She'd probably be wearing a dress in a color or style she hated and even though he likely would have demanded to approve it beforehand, he'd still find fault with how she looked. And she knew her stomach would be wrapped in unhappy, fretful knots about the hotel room he'd have booked and the thought of him touching her at the end of the night. She shuddered thinking about it. Betty was beyond happy with Jughead, but she couldn't deny the memories of her previous relationship still haunted. She occasionally had moments when she'd recall one of his putdowns and her subsequent tiptoeing on eggshells, and feel that familiar sensation of drowning in inadequacy and the need to break open her skin. The first time she and Jughead had argued after becoming a couple, about some stupid article he'd forgotten to finish before the paper's printing deadline, it cracked open a flood of memories of fights with Jason and she'd nearly had a panic attack. Jughead had done his best to calm her down and assure that even if they got mad at each other, he would never denigrate her or intentionally try to hurt her. It had worked, but soon after that, and with his encouragement, she'd started meeting regularly with the school's guidance counselor, Ms. Burble, to discuss her anxieties and former relationship. It helped her to have an outlet and she felt she'd become much better at getting a handle on her triggers and allowing herself to actually feel the negative emotions before letting them roll past like waves.

"We're happy you're here, too, B," Veronica said with understanding, Archie nodding beside her. Jughead, meanwhile, squeezed her jean-clad thigh under the table and kissed her temple softly, anchoring her back in the present and silencing the pesky what-ifs. She smiled at him gratefully.

"Thanks guys. I love you," Betty responded, feeling her eyes getting glassy, but more from genuine gratitude than any sadness. Luckily, before she could get sappier or start full-on crying, their waitress arrived with their food on a huge tray.

"Come on, let's eat," Archie said, hurriedly grabbing his cheeseburger and fries.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Jughead proclaimed, before taking a huge bite of his own burger.

Veronica made a face as the two of them chowed down, barely taking a moment to breathe between bites. "Boys," she said with a sigh, before breaking into a fit of giggles with Betty.

"You love us," Jughead taunted.

"Correction. Betty just said she loves you. I merely tolerate you," she quipped back, flipping her raven locks over her shoulder with a devilish smile.

"Ronnie, don't be mean," Archie said through a mouthful of food, prompting the rest of them to laugh uproariously.

Betty bent forward to take a bite of her grilled chicken sandwich, smiling as Veronica and Jughead continued to bicker. With her best friends across from her and the boy she loved wholeheartedly beside her, she knew she was finally in exactly the right place.

Betty held on a few extra moments as Jughead brought his motorcycle to a rest outside her house upon their return from Pop's. She squeezed against his taut stomach and he chuckled softly, taking his hands off the handlebars and placing them over where she held him.

"Don't want to go inside?" he asked.

"Without you, no," she murmured, kissing the nape of his neck between the collar of his jacket and the back of his black helmet.

"Unfortunately, your parents and my current guardian are quite strict," he teased, squeezing her hand, before slowly unwrapping her arms from around him and helping them both off the bike.

"I know," she sighed.

For the last two months, Jughead had been living next door to Betty at Archie's house. After yet another night of FP getting blackout drunk, this time trashing the trailer in the process, Betty had pleaded with a resistant Jughead to turn to Fred Andrews, Archie's dad, for help. Fred had persuaded FP to seek treatment and had helped pay for a three-month stay at an inpatient facility. He'd also taken Jughead in without getting social services involved. She knew Jughead hated to feel like a charity case or that he owed anyone, but even he seemed to realize his father would end up either with a DUI and in jail or dead in a ditch if things continued this way. Plus, as he'd helped her learn, it wasn't a sign of weakness to lean on the people who truly cared about you and wanted to be there for you. She'd assured him he was the strongest person she knew and that welcoming the Andrews' help would just make him that much stronger to help his dad in the future. While those first few weeks in March had been tense, things were much better now. Jughead had a consistent place to sleep and regular access to meals. And, in recent weeks, he had even started to speak with his dad on the phone, as FP gradually worked to rebuild their relationship. The incident had also further solidified their bond as a couple, showing Betty that as much as she had always needed Jughead and relied on him for emotional support, she was the same anchor for him. The only real downside of him moving in with the Andrews, however, was that it did make it harder to find places to be together overnight now that they both had curfews and more invested parents/guardians. At least they still had the evenings Jughead worked at the Twilight or stolen afternoons at the trailer where they could sneak away to be alone.

Once they were both off the bike, Jughead unfastened his helmet, before moving to take off hers—a birthday gift from the month before. For weeks after they'd started publicly dating, whenever they rode together, he'd have her wear his helmet and go bareheaded, which, while romantic, was still frightening. Still, she'd been anxious about talking to him about purchasing one for herself, feeling like it might be too presumptuous, despite the fact they were very much together and so obviously in love, as their friends mercilessly teased them. He'd surprised her, however, on her birthday, with the glittery pink helmet. While she often bemoaned how she'd been trained all her life into thinking and saying pink was her favorite color, she still loved the helmet. Firstly, there was something so quintessentially her about it—it radiated girlish femininity, but still had an underlying edge. Secondly, she knew what he intended it to signify about their relationship. It was a sign of his seriousness for her, of his desire for them to go the distance, riding copilot together, always.

Once both their heads were free of the gear, Jughead smoothed down the hair above her ponytail. She smiled up at him with obvious adoration. He leaned in closer to her, cupping her face and joining their lips in a strong, satisfying kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," he promised against her lips, before giving her one last peck. He had been joining her family regularly since that first brunch date she'd invited him to and it had become a weekly tradition. He grabbed her hand and interlaced their fingers, walking her up to the bright red door of the Cooper house. "I hope your mom's making that zucchini quiche thing again."

Betty giggled. Jughead had, somewhat shockingly, taken a fond liking to her mother's swanky cooking, even the overly fancy breakfast stuff she normally avoided, preferring to stick with simple sunny-side-up eggs and cut-up pieces of fruit. His boundless appetite and appreciation for food, however, had the whole family being forced to taste new complicated recipes Alice was excited to try out each week. It was funny, considering how beyond nervous she'd felt about how her parents would react to her bringing a boy from the Southside home that first Sunday, especially only two days after the emotional discussion with her mother about working to improve their relationship. Jughead had surprised her, though. He'd shown up in a button-down shirt and with nice flowers (for both her and her mother). And he'd asked her parents thorough, interested questions about the Riverdale Register, between exclamations of how delicious the food was. The entire time, too, he held Betty's hand under the table, alleviating all her nerves. It was the nicest meal she'd had with her parents in years. Although she could tell the Serpents thing bothered them, she knew they were trying and that they actually liked Jughead and were impressed with his intellect and obvious care toward her. Unfortunately, they didn't like him enough to actually let him sleep over, but it's not like she could particularly blame them considering the family history with pregnancy. It was enough her mom had discreetly taken her to the doctor for a prescription for birth control pills, not saying anything critical or embarrassing, but just telling Betty to "Be safe." So if the rule on no sleepovers (translation: no sex at the Cooper house) was assuring for her parents, she could accept it, even if occasionally that rule was broken on weekday afternoons before Alice and Hal got home from work. As Jughead said, she thought with a smile, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"I'll miss you," she pouted, before leaning in for one more lingering kiss on the doorstep.

"Night Betts," he said, after reluctantly releasing her. His smile was illuminated against the moonlight. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she said, smiling back, her heart still thumping wildly each time they said those words to each other.

She used her keys to turn the lock and with one last smile she headed inside, leaving him watching her from the porch steps. Safely inside, she took a few minutes to catch up and say goodnight to her parents, who were reading on the couch, before climbing up the stairs to her room. Her body hummed happily at the vibrations from Jughead's goodnight kiss she could still feel against her lips. She touched them and smiled to herself, feeling content. Once in her room, she peeled off her shirt and bra, replacing them with his trusty burgundy t-shirt, her preferred choice of sleepwear. Her jeans and underwear followed, and she slipped on the short red-and-white striped pajama shorts she'd bought purposefully to match his shirt. She threw her used clothes in the hamper, and then entered her bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. Once finished, she shut off the overhead light and settled under her comforter, checking her phone and preparing to send Jughead (now thankfully back in her phone under his real name) one more goodnight message. Before she could finish typing, she heard soft tapping. She turned in the direction of her window, at first bewildered, until she saw Jughead there bathed in her phone's opaque light, grinning at her through the glass pane. Her look of confusion quickly morphed into amusement at his efforts to sneak in and then just pure joy at seeing him. She hastily turned on her bedside lamp and stood up to open the window for him. She lifted it up as quietly as she could, allowing him to climb in from the ladder he'd used to scale the side of her house and reach her bedroom.

"Hey Juliet," he murmured, shooting her a flirtatious smirk. "Nurse off duty?"

She smiled back in spite of herself. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a loud whisper.

"Bringing back the thrill of sneaking around?" he replied, innocently, and she gave him a semi-reproachful look in response to his playfulness. "Really, though, it's been awhile since we've slept in the same bed together, and I missed you too."

She softened at his sweet words, already eager to give in to him despite the chances of her very awake parents catching them together. "Fred didn't see you sneak out?" she asked worriedly, biting her lip.

"Out like a light," Jughead responded with a wink. "Don't worry," he said, reaching out to stroke her arm. "I'll leave in the morning before he wakes up and then come back over here. I already set an alarm."

She could feel herself nodding in easy surrender to his cajoling. She started to angle her body even closer to him, freezing when she heard her parents' footsteps coming up the stairs. "Shh," she mouthed to him, and he rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

"You're cute when you're nervous," he whispered, pulling her hips toward him until she was flush against him. He bowed his head to kiss down her neck to distract her until they heard her parents' bedroom door shutting. She tried her best not to moan aloud, but he was hitting her favorite spot and she was quickly engulfed with desire from his lean body pressing just-so against hers and his warm tongue dancing circles over her sensitive skin.

"We have to be really quiet," she warned, placing her palms just under his collarbone to pause his kisses.

He placed his hands over hers on his chest, entrapping her arms, and smirked down at her. "You think I've already forgotten how to be quiet with you?" he asked, alluding to those autumn months full of clandestine meetings.

"Be serious," she said, trying to sound earnest, but the levity peeking out from the corners of her bright green eyes gave her away.

"Nice shirt," he teased, ignoring her attempts to shush him. He moved his hands down to her lower back and held her close. "Feels like I've seen it before, although it's sexier on you."

"Oh yeah?" she said, allowing herself to flirt back. "Does this do it for you?"

Jughead surprised her by responding with a needy kiss, swiftly taking her mouth in his. He sucked on her plump lips, demanding entrance, which Betty quickly granted. She spread her lips for him and softly brushed her tongue against his, running the tip over as many crevices as she could reach. He hissed softly in her mouth at the contact, before breaking the kiss to move his mouth to nibble on her ear. "As far as I'm concerned," he purred between nips to her earlobe, "You should always be dressed in my clothes, or nothing at all." Betty fidgeted against him, his seductive words sending a deep pulse through her core. Before she could reply, though, Jughead ran his hands underneath the shirt, spreading his thumbs and forefingers over both her hips to pull her up off the ground, prompting both of them to break out into a hushed fit of giggles. Carrying her, he took a few steps backward, before letting himself plunge onto her bed, Betty falling down horizontally on top of him. Her ponytail fell forward brushing into his hair and he lifted his hands to smooth it back down, holding on to the back of her head as he kissed her again.

"Mmm, you taste so good," he muttered between kisses, sucking off the final traces of the strawberry chapstick she'd applied earlier in the evening.

They made out unhurriedly for several minutes, just enjoying the taste and touch of each other, until Betty could feel both their bodies becoming more and more stimulated. Sensing her readiness for more, Jughead pulled her hair loose from its tight ponytail and flipped her over, his weight bearing down on her. Betty's fingers trailed into Jughead's hair as he sloped downward, stopping when he reached her stomach. With confident fingers, he arched her back off the mattress slightly and the t-shirt along with it, removing it from her frame and tossing it to the other side of her full bed. Settling her back down against the blanket, he trailed his hand up her leg as he kissed up from her belly button until reaching her breasts. He took her right nipple in his mouth, sucking gently, and Betty whimpered under him, taking her left breast between her fingers and squeezing. Jughead grabbed her hand, and placed it on his upper back, replacing her fingers with his mouth. "Ohhh," she moaned, as he bit softly, her nipple peaking under his tongue. Moving up to quiet her moans, Jughead returned to kissing her mouth, edging off her body slightly and turning onto his side to get a better angle to sink his hand past the waistband of her shorts. His eyes opened mid-kiss and twinkled when he found only soft skin and no additional fabric.

"No underwear, huh? I think you secretly wanted me to sneak in despite your initial protestations," he whispered hotly against her skin, his fingers grazing the swirl of blonde curls above her center.

"Jug," she whined, wriggling against him urgently. As always, his use of flowery language had succeeded in making her even more desperate for him to touch her in the one and only place that would bring relief.

"Answer me, baby, and I'll do whatever you want," he commanded, using the pet name he reserved for when they were alone.

Betty sucked in her breath and tried to rub her legs together to ease the friction as his finger ghosted just over her clit. "I did…I wanted you tonight," she admitted.

"I know you did, baby," he said with just the right hint of cockiness, moving his hand to trace the folds covering her opening. "I snuck over just for you."

"Please Jug," she begged, squeezing her abdominal muscles together to lift her hips off the bed to try to bring her aching center closer to his teasing hand.

At the sound of her pleading, he finally obliged, quickly pulling the shorts down from her legs. Returning to position, he ran a finger down her glistening opening and then up it once more. He smiled when his hands felt how aroused she already was. "Who are you so wet for, Betty?" he asked huskily, his finger rubbing a series of feather-light strokes over her clit.

"All for you Juggy," she moaned, letting her body sink against her pillows in pleasure as he continued to caress her softly back and forth. After a few strokes, he moved his middle finger down to enter her fully and Betty gasped aloud, trying to keep her voice low, as he penetrated her up to his knuckle. His thumb replaced his finger's ministrations on her clit, and the blonde knew she was already close to coming undone. Dying to make him just as breathless and needy as she was, her hands scrambled to the front of his jeans, gripping gently onto the prominent bulge. "Are you hard for me?" she asked.

"Always, baby," he groaned in response, as she opened the zipper and pulled the jeans down his hips, before running her fingers up his length over his boxers. He inserted another finger and she bit her lip to muffle the series of soft cries she let out. Once she'd regained enough of her bearings, she pushed down his underwear too and pumped his twitching cock several times as he began to curl his fingers against her walls. Eager for the next step, Jughead, with Betty's help, wrestled the boxers and jeans entirely off his legs, all the while keeping his two fingers buried inside her. Hovering back over her, he nudged her legs open wider, removing his fingers and moving them up to toy with her clit as he settled his hardness close to her opening.

"Let me be on top?" she asked softly, touching the small of his back to still him before he could enter her.

"You want to ride me, baby?" he asked, his blue eyes glinting at the thought. She nodded, her own eyes giddy with excitement at taking control, and he easily flipped them over so she was now straddling him. She rubbed herself several times against his erection, coating him in her arousal, before lowering her center down onto his cock. "Fuck," he said, his breath hitching, as she took her fill of him, sliding down his length. Grabbing her hips, he held her as she started to move up and down, her breasts bouncing softly. Moving one hand, his fingers returned to her clit, stroking it back and forth as she rode him slowly. Betty threw her head back, trying her best not to scream out, the sensations of pleasure his fingers were providing nearly overwhelming her. She was so close. Steering along her movements, he prodded her hip forward to bring her chest down flush against his. One hand moved to the back of her head as he directed her mouth to meet him in a fierce kiss, while the other abandoned her clit to clutch her ass. He started to guide their thrusts, plunging in and out of her at a quicker pace.

"Harder, Jug," she moaned against his lips, her eyes locking in desperation for him to push her all the way over the edge.

"Look at me, Betty" he said, staring at her intently, forcing her eyes to meet his as he sped up his movements, burying himself deeper inside her with each thrust. She could feel him hitting all the way to the back of her walls, his pace becoming more frenzied and his movements choppier. Before she could even ready herself for it, the vibrations from her center were spreading over her entire body, washing her in shoots of pleasure. She nearly called out, but his mouth latched onto hers, quieting her, as his own orgasm overcame him, overlapping with hers, and he emptied himself inside her in several spurts.

He held her against him for several moments, their mouths touching but not moving, both of them trying to regain their breathing. When she felt her body start to relax, Jughead slowly rolled them over again, reaching for the tissues on her night table. He slowly pulled out of her, handing her a few tissues and helping her clean the cum dribbling out of her center and onto her thighs. Once she was taken care of, he threw out the tissues and shut off her bedside lamp, coming back to the bed to pull the covers down and let them both settle underneath.

He held her against him, propped up on the pillows, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "You good?" he whispered.

"Yeah…that was intense," she whispered back with a smile.

He chuckled softly. "I hope it's always that intense."

Betty closed her eyes, her lips upturned. She loosened herself from his embrace, creeping deeper down into the bed and turning to face him. He smiled back at her, his arm spreading out behind her head over her pillow. "Hey Jug," she said, the potency of his gaze when he'd told her to look at him during sex spurring her to remember something.

"Yeah, Betts?" he answered, stifling a yawn.

"Do you remember that Reggie party we hooked up at, before…"

"Remind me," he said, smirking, his finger finding the curve of her stomach under the blanket and running teasing circles over it.

"Serious," she chided, but not making any move to stop his tender motions against her skin. "After we hooked up that night, I remember this look you gave me. Like you were willing us, everything we had done, to carry meaning beyond that one moment."

"Yeah," Jughead murmured, turning contemplative, his hand coming to a rest against her waist. "I probably did. I felt like that a lot back then."

"Did you really think we'd make it here?" Betty asked. "Being together. Actually."

"I hoped so, Betty," he said, his voice sincere. "It was always what I wanted."

"Sometimes I want to cry at how lucky I feel," she revealed to him. "All those months I never let myself believe we could really have this, that I would ever get out of that cage and we could be together like I wanted. And I never dreamed it was possible to feel like this. Loved, safe."

Jughead leaned in to give her a soft, long kiss. "You deserve this, Betty. We deserve it."

"I know," she said, softly. "I just sometimes feel sad at the time we wasted."

Jughead brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't regret anything if it brought us here," he said, gazing intently at her again. "Because this," he said, as her eyes met his, "It's everything." He paused for a moment, smiling softly at her. "I remember at the Twilight on my birthday you broke down and said you weren't perfect and I told you no one is. But, Betty, we are, together. We're perfect."

"I really love you, Jug," she said, softly emphasizing each word, making sure he knew.

"I love you, too, Betts," he promised like an oath, wiping away the stray tear that had unconsciously fallen on her cheek. He kissed her again, pressing her lips delicately, and she inched her body toward him until their skin was touching.

"You know," she whispered, mid-kiss, "Back then, I used to think, I could never have enough of you."

"And now?" he asked, and she could feel the corners of his mouth rising up into that infuriatingly sexy smirk against her face.

"I still can't."