Sunday comes and the awkwardness between Betty and Jughead has turned into something of paranoia. With every accidental gaze or close encounter, they find themselves searching for Sweet Pea's whereabouts. Jughead can still feel her lips on his and the sound of her gentle sigh as he'd tugged her swollen bottom lip with his teeth. It's all he can think about and every time he catches her gaze something primal tightens in his loins. Thankfully, Sweet Pea is out of the house by lunch time for a Serpent meeting.
After finishing up his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he gives a quick sniff to his armpits and decides he better get to showering today. He goes straight to the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind him. Locking the door has never been anything he's bothered with. There's only one bathroom and someone barging in to pee or brush their teeth is a normal occurrence around here. But now? If Betty came in, he might combust on the spot.
Finishing up with a quick rinse of his hair, Jughead shuts off the water. He draws back the curtain and grabs his towel, patting off his face.
"Shit," he groans, lowering his towel from his face as he realizes he'd forgotten to get clothes. He grumbles to himself as he continues to towel off. Of course he forgot to get clothes. Of course! With his towel clutched at his hips, he heads into their room, pausing at the door to collect himself before pushing it open.
Betty glances up from her book, her brow raising ever so slightly before she returns her attention to the pages before her. Jughead does his best to ignore the swirling in his stomach as he digs through his dresser for clean clothes. Without thinking, he loosens his grip on his towel, quickly clutching it tighter than before as he looks to Betty in panic. Normally, he would just drop his towel and get dressed, but it's taking everything he has not to pitch a tent at the moment.
"You gonna get dressed or just stand there all day," Betty mutters, smirking as she continues to read.
Jughead swallows hard, glancing between his pile of clothes, the towel barely concealing the growing issue behind it, and Betty just feet away. With a sigh, Betty lowers her book and gets up from the bed. Jughead backs himself into the dresser as she comes nearer. He watches her carefully, his heart hammering in his chest with the steady rise of his erection. Betty glances down between them, then meets his panicked expression with a look of contemplation. His attention shifts downward, a shaky breath escaping through his lips, in time to watch her fingers graze over the hardness beneath his towel.
"Betts-"
"Can I see," she asks just above a whisper, her eyes hopeful as she worries her lip.
"Betty, we shouldn't-"
"I won't touch it," she promises. "I just want to see."
He contemplates for a moment, clearing his tight throat before giving a hesitant nod. Betty's face lights up with a smile, but the second he releases his towel he swears her eyes go black. His arousal intensifies tenfold with her eager stare and he's certain he's never been this hard in his life. He's startled by her hand wrapping around his length, gasping as his eyes dart up to meet hers.
"Betts, you said-"
"I'm sorry," she shakes her head, retracting her hand as she realizes what she's just done.
Jughead only nods, taking a breath in a useless attempt to calm down as she backs away. He watches her as she takes a seat at the edge of her bed, her eyes lingering on his naked form.
"Juggy," she says breathlessly.
Jughead freezes, dropping the pair of boxers he's just picked up from the floor to stare wide eyed in question.
"Can I watch you?"
"Can you wha- oh." His heart pounds in his ears as he realizes what she's asking. "Betty, I don't know."
"Please," she tries again.
"Why," he near whispers, glancing nervously at her as he covers himself with the boxers he's finally managed to pick up from the floor.
She hesitates, worrying her lip as she picks at a fingernail. "I- I want to know how you do it."
"I don't know Betty," he worries, his hand coming up to rub nervously at the back of his neck.
Betty pouts her lip, her eyes pleading as she gives him the puppy dog face she knows he can't resist.
"Fine," he sighs, moving to lean back against the wall on his bed. "Lock the door."
"Why," she almost laughs, locking the door regardless.
"What if Pea comes home," he argues.
This time Betty does laugh. "And he's not going to think it's weird we're in here together with the door locked?"
Jughead rolls his eyes. "Are we doing this?"
Betty nods eagerly and jumps onto his bed, crossing her legs as she settles beside him.
"You're gonna sit right there," he questions a bit shyly.
"Is that a problem?"
It's not so much a problem as it is incredibly nerve wracking. He feels like a complete mess, his heart racing and his hands shaking with anxiety. He's no stranger to sexual activity, but this is Betty, and he hasn't exactly done this in front of anyone before.
He shakes his head. "Its fine."
With his anxiety, he's completely lost his previous arousal and Betty's intent stare isn't helping things any. He takes a steadying breath, closing his eyes briefly, before looking to her with hesitancy.
"Do you want to like, make out or something," Betty suggests as quiet as mouse.
"Uh, yea, ok," he nods.
With that, Betty leans up on her hands to press a feather light kiss to his lips. Jughead pulls her back as she shies away, his fingers threading into the hair at the back of her head to hold her in place. The kiss grows in intensity and his arousal quickly returns with her hands exploring his naked skin. Their tongues tangle together and Jughead, a bit mindlessly, takes one of her hands and places it over his erection, his hand over hers urging her to grip him firmly. He guides her movement, beginning a slow stroke and their lips disconnect with the breathless moan that creeps up on him. Betty reacts with widened eyes, her gaze shifting to watch as their hands move together over his length.
"Juggy," she mutters, a mild hint of nervousness to her tone.
"You want to stop," he questions, releasing her hand as he looks to her with worry.
Betty shakes her head. "Can I just watch this time."
Jughead only nods, replacing his grip on his swollen cock with only the slightest hesitation. His eyes close as he strokes himself from base to tip and the thrill of her closeness, the fact that he can feel her gaze on his cock is driving him wild. He works himself into a hurried pace, grunting and biting back moans as he grows nearer to completion.
"I'm gonna cum soon," he pants, daring to look at her for the first time since he'd started.
Her eyes are fixed on the movement of his hand, her lower lip bitten and raw as she squeezes her thighs together and it's the hottest thing he's ever seen.
"Fuck," he chokes out, his body clenching as a river of white pours down over his knuckles.
His chest heaves as he comes down, a singular laugh escaping his lips. He lifts his head from his pillow in time to watch Betty drag her index finger through the mess that's pooled on his stomach. His eyes widen as she brings her finger to her lips, her tongue flicking out to taste his fluids and he can't help but wonder if this is all just some crazy realistic wet dream.
"Is it always so messy," she wonders with a shy giggle.
"Every time," he nods, leaning down sideways off the bed to retrieve his towel from the floor.
"Do you ever do that when I'm in here, like when I'm sleeping?"
"God no," he laughs as he wipes off his stomach and hands. "Usually in the bathroom, sometimes in the shower."
"Juggy," she scolds.
"What," he laughs as he gets up to find some clothes. "Would you rather I did it three feet from your head? Besides I'm not the only one who jerks off in the shower. I doubt Pea yanks it with you just across the room."
"Ew, I did not need that image in my head," she gags.
As their laughter dies down, Jughead meets her gaze and mutters, "I'm glad this isn't weird."
"Me too," she agrees. "You've been ignoring me."
"I'm sorry," he apologizes guiltily.
"It's ok," she shrugs. "I guess I've sort of been weird too."
"This is a little weird though, isn't it," he wonders while pulling on some sweats.
"I don't know," she shrugs again. "I mean, yea we grew up together and I guess we've always treated each other like brother and sister, but we're not really."
"You think mom would be mad," he worries.
"I just watched you jerk off and you're thinking about mom right now," she laughs.
"Ew, god no," he scoffs, snapping his t-shirt at her. "I just- what are we doing?"
"I don't know," she admits, "but I don't want it to stop."
"Me neither."
Later that evening, Jughead and Betty find themselves cuddled together on the couch, empty plates that once held slices of cheap frozen pizza discarded onto the coffee table. Their cozy position is much the same as it always is, Betty leaned into his side with her feet tucked under her and his arm slung over the back of the couch behind her, but it's different all the same. The butterflies in Betty's stomach have yet to cease their fluttering and she's been contemplating for over an hour now how he would react if she were to rest her hand on his thigh. She finds comfort in the gentle brushing of his finger as he toys with the hair draped over her shoulder, which is new as well, but it's not enough to ease her fear of rejection. Regardless of what had taken place earlier, this isn't just some guy she can brush off if he doesn't respond well, this is Jughead and she's terrified of ruining their friendship. With a steadying breath, she goes for it, placing a hesitant hand at the apex of his thigh. Jughead's eyes flick down to her hand for the briefest of seconds and it's everything she has not to pull away. Her breath catches in her throat when he takes her hand in his, her stomach sinking as he pulls her hand away, only to kiss her knuckles before replacing it on his thigh. She breathes an audible sigh of relief and feels the shake of Jughead's chest as he chuckles silently.
"Did you really think I would reject you," he smirks.
"I don't know," she shrugs, her cheeks flushing hot under his gaze.
"You're allowed to touch me," he laughs, "just maybe not when Pea's around."
Betty only nods, hiding her face at his ribs and earning another low chuckle followed by a kiss to the top of her head.
At the sound of the door closing behind them, Jughead and Betty fly apart to sit at opposite ends as they glance over the back of the couch to the door. They're met with Alice's curious brow, raising further as she glances between them, the two of them glancing guilty between each other and back to Alice again. Her eyes narrow slightly and Jughead's almost certain she's trying not to grin as she bends down to unbuckle her heels.
"You kids eat," she questions as she moves to look in the fridge.
"Yea. Pizza," Betty nods, pointing to the half-eaten pizza on the stove.
Alice nods and grabs a slice, holding it between her teeth as she nears the back of the couch. She pauses to take a bite, examining her kid's obviously strange behavior as she chews it slowly.
"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
"Nah-Nope," they reply in unison, exchanging scolding glances as they try their best to act natural.
Alice only nods as she rounds the couch to drop down between them.
"What are we watching?"
"Uh- Rebel Without a Cause," Jughead shrugs, giving Betty a panicked glance over Alice's head.
"Oh, I love this one," she beams, "got any popcorn?"
"I can make some," Betty calls out, jumping up to quickly relocate to the kitchen.
"I'll get drinks," Jughead announces, following after Betty as calmly as he can manage.
Betty focuses intently on getting the plastic wrapper off of the popcorn bag as Jughead pulls three beers from the fridge. He glances nervously between Betty and the back of Alice's head on the couch as he twists off their caps.
"She knows," Betty mouths as the microwave begins to hum.
Jughead disagrees with a shake of head, though he's not certain he actually believes that.
"She definitely knows," Betty whispers as he steps nearer to her side.
"How could she," he argues under his breath, "there's no way she knows."
"Because we're being so weird," she worries. "Jug, I touched your dick-"
Jughead claps his hand over her mouth, his eyes wide as he chances a glance in Alice's direction. Both of them nearly jump out of their skin at the microwave's beep, signaling that their popcorn is ready.
Betty pries his hand away from her mouth, taking a final glance at Alice before returning her attention to Jughead.
"Act normal," she says sternly, earning a nod from Jughead before he collects their drinks from the counter.
Betty watches from the corner of her eye, emptying the popcorn bag into a large bowl as Jughead returns to the couch. She takes a few steadying breaths before going to the couch herself, dropping down as casually as she can manage and hands Alice the bowl of popcorn. Together, the three of them finish the movie, polishing off the bowl of popcorn in time for Sweet Pea to arrive home. He doesn't say much of anything aside from a quick wave in their direction before he shuts himself in the bathroom for a shower.
"Well, I'm going to get to bed," Alice announces upon standing from the couch. "I'll be working a double tomorrow so I probably won't see you kids until Tuesday morning. Be good."
Jughead and Betty nod with the point of her finger between them, both feeling as though their stomachs have jumped into their throats as they watch her go.
"Fuck Betts, she knows," Jughead worries just above a whisper."
"I told you."
"She's gonna kick me out," he worries some more, raking his fingers back in his hair.
"She's not going to kick you out-"
"She probably thinks we're fucking," he goes on.
"Jughead," Betty snaps, taking his shoulders and forcing him to look at her. "Just calm down. Mom's not gonna kick you out and even if she thinks we're fucking, we share a room with Pea. It's not like we'd be doing it in front of him."
Jughead only nods, trying to gather his thoughts. "Wait, does this mean-"
"Jughead, we're not fucking," she cuts him off with an eyeroll.
"Right," he nods. "Wait, like never?"
"I don't know," she shrugs. "Can we not do this right now?"
"Yea, sorry," he nods. "I didnt mean we have to, I just meant- well, I want to, with you. If you want to I mean, uhm, eventually."
"Juggy," she snickers. "Relax. We've barely even made out. Let's just go to bed, we can talk about it another time."
"Right, yea," he nods as he gets up to follow her into bed.
Just after Betty and Jughead get to bed, Sweet Pea makes his way out of the bathroom and into Alice's room.
"Hey Ma," he calls with a tap of his knuckles on the door frame as he opens it just a crack.
"What's up babe," she questions sleepily as she sits up in bed.
Sweet Pea crosses the room and takes a seat at the edge of the bed.
"What is it," Alice questions, her concern growing with his silence.
"It's happening," he mutters cryptically.
"What is?"
"Jug and Betty," he clarifies.
"Oh," she nods. "I think so too."
"You gonna kick him out," he worries.
"Of course not," she almost laughs, resting a reassuring hand between his shoulder blades. "Betty and Jughead have been in love with each other for years. What comes next is going to happen whether he lives here or with FP and all we can do is let it play out. I know you worry for your sister but she's old enough to make her own decisions and you and I both know Jug will treat her right."
"Always has," Sweet Pea sighs. "Is it bad that I kind of want to kick his ass?"
Alice laughs, "go to bed, you got school in the morning."
Sweet Pea nods as he rises from the bed to plant a kiss to Alice's forehead. "Night ma."
"Goodnight my Sweet Pea."
