MASKS & FLASKS

"I'm not going!" Betty called from the other side of her door.

She pressed the length of her body against her bedroom door, barely keeping her best friend from opening it fully. "You can't make me see him!"

Veronica stopped pushing against the door and Betty let out a sigh of relief until the door came swinging wide open, causing her to fall backwards onto the plush cream-colored rug next to her bed. Veronica strolled right to her and wagged a perfectly manicured finger in her face, "I knew that was why you didn't want to come with me tonight! It's about Jughead, isn't it? You have to face him sooner or later, B."

Betty pulled her knees up to her chest and softly banged her head into her right knee before looking up at Veronica.

"You do remember what I did, right? Actually, this party is the least of my problems. I should honestly just switch schools so I don't have to see him in class either." Betty let out a groan and tears started to well up, despite her better efforts. Veronica dropped to her knees in front of her and rubbed her back. "I'm too embarrassed to see him, V. He probably thinks I'm a sex-crazed pervert."

Veronica finally let out a laugh. "Look, I'm not going to judge you for letting your freak flag out, even if it was on school property. But you guys literally run the paper and you have several classes together because you're in the same major. It's best to go to this party and see him now and get whatever awkwardness there is out of the way." Veronica tilted Betty's head up and wiped the tears that had just started to spill onto her cheeks with swift strokes of her fingers. "Now, come on. Let's get you cleaned up. Besides, it's a themed party tonight. 'Flasks & Masks' so you can get a few drinks in you without anyone knowing it's you at first."

She stood up and walked to Betty's closet, looking through her choices. "I swear this whole theme is just so Reggie & Archie can get out of providing booze and making everyone bring their own." She looked back at Betty, still sitting on the ground looking distraught. "But it looks like the perfect party for you right now."

Betty shrugged and lifted her hands in defeat. "Fine. But I don't have a flask or a mask."

She looked at the shimmery black mini dress that Veronica had her hands on, the one she bought on impulse during their recent shopping trip last weekend. It hugged all the right places, with enough of a dip in the sweetheart neckline to show off some ample cleavage and she liked how the back closure zipped from the top and the bottom which made her feel scandalous. It was a far cry from her normal pastel colored outfits and although she loved it, she was not trying to call attention to herself tonight.

"V, I can't wear that." Betty said flatly. "Oh, but you will! This is perfect for tonight." Veronica said snatching it off the hanger and laying it on the bed. "I don't think you realize what you do to that boy. It's obvious he likes you. I think you just surprised him." She turned to look at the bottom of her closet for matching shoes.

"He caught me touching myself in the office of the Blue & Gold! I traumatized him." She hissed at her as she finally stood up. "I was, was…" She trailed off as she put her face in her hands. "I was calling his name, V." Betty choked out the last words and Veronica's mouth hung open at them.

"Oh my god. BETTY." Veronica gasped while a hand flew to the string of pearls around her neck in slight shock before continuing, "You did not tell me that. You left that important little tidbit out, my dear." Veronica purred at her, practically swooning over this new information. "So that's why you're so nervous. You can't just chalk this up to some dirty thoughts late at night working on some edits while the rest of the school was fast asleep." She wagged a perfectly manicured finger in her face. "You were thinking about him and now he knows."

Betty closed her eyes and nodded, totally aware of how screwed she was.

"And he just walked out? He really didn't say anything?" Veronica raised an eyebrow at her.

Betty just nodded again.

"Well, after he sees you in this tonight he's bound to say something." Veronica smiled and dragged her towards the bedroom down the hall to find her favorite black Louboutins for her to wear with her new black dress.

Jughead did not sleep last night at all.

Memories from the night before kept flooding back into his mind, over and over again.

He knew they had a deadline to meet for the Blue and Gold's new issue this month and he'd been slacking that week, being dragged around to help his roommates prepare for their big party this weekend. He felt bad that Betty would be stuck with the rest of the work, so on Friday night he decided to go into the Blue and Gold after hours and knock it out before the weekend. He didn't want her there worrying about it on Saturday, hoping she wouldn't have an excuse to miss the party at the boys' apartment. He wanted to see her there, regardless if he was suppressing his feelings for her on the daily.

He was turning the corner to the room that connected the office to the dead end of the hallway when he heard his name. "Jug…" the voice called, although he knew it had to be Betty. Is she alright? He started worry. It was late, around 11:00pm and probably not the safest place to be alone if you were a preppy blonde college girl. He started to walk slowly toward the door, taking his time until a sharp, "Oh, god, Jug!" pierced his ears. He practically leapt towards the door and swung it open. He barely had one foot in the door as he yelled "Betty! Are you -" and completely froze. Jughead locked eyes with her for a moment and he took a shaky breath as he realized she's alone in the dark room. There was no threat that he could see, except the one to his sanity.

The glow from her laptop is the only thing casting an ethereal glow on her body which is on full display for him. Her white long sleeved blouse is open slightly, her left hand clutching her right breast through the thin material of her lacy pink bra. He follows the trail of her right arm to where her hand was under her blue and black plaid skirt and his mouth suddenly goes dry. 'Jesus Christ! She's touching herself. ' he thinks before Jughead closes his eyes tightly, half from embarrassment and half out of the insane lust that courses through his body and straight to his cock. It doesn't matter though. The image of her legs spread wide, one delicate foot propped up on the desk and the other barely touching the floor were burned in his mind. Her fingers were still deep inside the prettiest pussy he'd ever seen, the light from the screen making her wet folds look like they were glistening like diamonds. Afraid to look at her again for fear he might do something stupid, like lift her up and slam her against the desk and take what he'd wanted since they met at freshman orientation, he turned on his heel and slammed the door shut behind him as he began to walk out of the building in a daze.

So yeah, he hadn't slept at all. He tried. He really did.

He even jerked off 3 times throughout the night, thinking he could dull the ache that he felt since realizing that she was masturbating to the idea of him. Jughead let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in while visualizing her beautiful flushed face frozen in shock and looked up towards the ceiling of his bedroom. God, I don't know what I did to deserve that but either it was really good or really fucking bad, he thought as he ran a tired hand down his face in frustration.

Suddenly a loud knock was at his bedroom door. "Dude, let's go! We've got so much to do today!" Archie called from the hallway, mouth full of something Jughead couldn't quite place.

"Yeah, J - you've gotta grab the kegs from the Whyte Worm. Oh, and can you ask Toni if she's going to come? She's a babe, man." Reggie chimed in on the other side of his door.

Jughead rolled his eyes and tossed a black pillow casually over his face as he palmed himself lightly through his boxers, silently cursing himself for being hard again. "She's not into you, Reg. I keep telling you she's all about girls," He muttered into the pillow.

"Doesn't matter, she just hasn't given me a chance yet." Reggie huffed and Jughead could hear him walking away down the hall. He could hear Archie gargling and spitting in the bathroom sink that was across from his room. 'Toothpaste,' Jughead thought back to when Archie talked to him earlier.

"Alright, I'm getting up. Text me if there's anything else you can think of that we need while I'm out." Jughead made his way through his room, thankful that his dick had calmed down, and grabbed a pair of jeans off the floor and a black sweater from his closet. It was the end of April in New York, the end of winter hadn't taken all of it's chill with it and it still warranted a sweater, if not his trusty leather jacket.

"Thanks, man!" Archie called out from the bathroom. "I'm excited for tonight. I bet Veronica will bring Betty! You know, that cute blonde you've been pining for the last 3 years?" Jughead could hear the grin in Archie's voice. "Maybe you'll finally grow some balls and make a move tonight."

The mention of Betty had all the blood rushing back to the center of his body, his jeans stretching painfully around the obvious indication that he was still under the spell of last night's findings. Jughead gritted his teeth, a frustrated "Goddamn it!" pulled from his throat.

Archie's laughter could be heard drifting down the hallway as Jughead closed his eyes and started to count backwards from 20, trying to picture his favorite literary geniuses as the cast from The Office.

It didn't work this time.

Jughead was dressed all in black as he leaned against the counter of the kitchen, crossing his ankles as he took a big gulp from his silver flask with a messy crown on display that he had carved into it. His eyes drifted over the sea of bodies that had managed to squeeze themselves into their small apartment. Well, it wasn't that small. It had 3 bedrooms and was an open concept design so the kitchen was connected to the large living room and dining room area. The dining room table was currently being used as a beer pong table while the furniture in the living room had been pushed to all corners of the room, allowing the guests some room to dance. Dance Monkey was blaring from the speakers and the girls were shouting along and writhing to the music.

Jughead rolled his eyes behind his silver-toned mask and took another drink from his flask, hoping to drown out the music or at least make it more bearable.

"Come here often?" A small voice asked next to him.

He nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise and turned to look at the figure beside him. She had a sexy black dress on, the fabric almost looked wet with how it shined and seemed to move over her chest as she breathed. She had a short black bob and was standing next to him staring straight ahead at the chaos in his living room.

Jughead let out a loud sigh as he glanced over at the only other person in the kitchen area with him and could make out the side of her mask which was black with some red intricate design on it.

"I guess so. I live here." He said simply, a light shrug lifting his shoulders.

"I know." The girl said and lifted her own little red flask to her lips.

Jughead looked over at her again in confusion. He didn't really socialize much, his circle of friends was small enough and he didn't think he'd ever met this girl. He cleared his throat and scanned his eyes over the crowd again, this time noticing Veronica with Archie. She was pressing him against the doorway leading to the hall that connected the bedrooms from the living room. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and was whispering things in his ear that had the redhead's face almost matching the color of his hair. Betty must be around somewhere, he thought as his eyes darted from the entrance to the living room frantically. Veronica and Betty traveled as a pair most of the time, and Jughead doubted tonight would have been different. But last night could have changed everything.

The girl beside him spoke up again. "Are you looking for someone?" She raised her voice over the music which had turned to some slow song he didn't know.

Jughead's attention was caught by Reggie who was trying to dance with a beautiful figure with pink hair, clearly Toni. She pushed him away laughing and went back to dancing with the pretty red-headed girl that had her arm wrapped around her waist and Jughead let out a small chuckle at his persistence.

"Yeah," He said, waving a hand towards the crowd in front of them. "I was hoping a friend of mine would show up, but it doesn't look like she's coming."

"Maybe that's because she already did last night." The voice said next to him so quietly he barely heard her.

Jughead snapped his head towards the girl beside him and stared down at her.

She finally turned her head toward him and lifted her gaze to his, her bright green eyes dancing behind long black lashes.

Betty, he sighed in his mind in disbelief. What the fuck is she wearing? he thought to himself as he again ran his eyes over her body, this time with renewed interest.

"Hey, Jug." Betty smiled sheepishly, her red lips looking absolutely delicious as she continued, "I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. For last night, I mean." She took a deep breath and continued when he just stared at her. "Look, I'm super sorry." She started to slur her words a bit at this point and Jughead looked at the flask in her hand and began to wonder how much she had to drink to get up the courage to come talk to him about the events in that dark room the night prior. "I just got carried away and I thought I was alone. I'm sorry you had to see that." She finished her little speech, glad that she had already downed most of her flask before arriving to the party. She wanted to get this whole thing over with and die in the comfort of her bedroom now.

Jughead just continued to stare at her without saying a word and Betty took the chance to start her journey towards the front door. Without thinking, Jughead reached towards her and grabbed the top of her dress in the back, effectively unlatching the zipper up top and unzipping her a few inches. Betty froze, feeling his warm hand on her back as he closed the distance between them and pressed himself against her. He dropped his head down to rest his chin on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "I don't accept." Her eyes closed momentarily, her brain foggy from the alcohol, the anxiety of the whole situation and now feeling his warm breath against her neck.

"What?" She asked after a few seconds of collecting herself. Her fingers reached down until they were clutching the hem of her black dress. Betty had felt so confident when she showed up at the apartment in her ridiculously sexy outfit, not at all like her normal attire, and the warmth in her belly from god knows how many shots of whiskey she had already downed. She donned her black wig that she liked to wear sometimes in her room when she wanted to feel a little darker than her perfect Betty Cooper persona. She felt she could pretend to be someone else for a few minutes, apologize and hopefully never speak of it again.

"I don't accept your apology, Betts," His voice was low, husky, and his mouth was teasing her ear. He nipped at her earlobe before straightening up behind her but moved his hands to her waist.

"Why not?" She squeaked out. The liquid courage she had in her was starting to wear off fast due to the panic she felt taking it's place.

"Because I don't want to forget the vision of you sprawled out on that chair moaning my name." He said as he started to pull the zipper that dangled between her thighs up, effectively unzipping her dress from the bottom up until he reached the swell of her ass. Betty let out a low moan and looked around in shock, trying to see if anyone was watching them. They were still in the kitchen, safely in front of the back counter and the kitchen island was high enough to separate them from the waist down to the partygoers in the room. Her eyes darted towards the crowd nervously. She tried to reach behind her to pull her zipper back down but strong fingers curled around her wrist and brought it up to her waist, gentle but with a slight force that had her arm pinned behind her.

"Why's that?" She asked breathlessly as she felt his fingertips trail up her inner thighs to hook his finger around the string of her thong nestled between the globes of her ass.

"Because," Jughead whispered as he toyed with the string. "It was the most erotic thing I've ever seen." He pulled the thong sharply, eliciting a yelp from deep in Betty's throat at the sensation of her clit being strangled by the scrap of fabric between her legs. He pulled once more on the thong and bent down to whisper in her ear, "You like that, don't you? Of course you do, you're body is practically vibrating. I can feel the heat radiating from this pretty cunt and," Betty whimpered, causing him to tighten his grip on the wrist still pinned to her lower back and he reached between her thighs where her wetness was starting to escape her soft lips.

He took a deep breath and continued, "You're so fucking wet for me already, Betts."

Betty's head dropped back onto his shoulder behind her and she stared at the ceiling, praying her legs wouldn't give out and pushing herself backwards into his hand. She just wanted him to touch her, put his fingers deep in her pussy, run his tongue along her slit and coat his mouth in her slickness.

"Please, Jug," She begged and his fingers barely brushed her as he slipped his finger under the small triangle of fabric of her thong.

"Please what?" He asked, still not touching her.

"Please, I need you to touch it."

Jughead turned slightly so that Betty was facing the crowd and her front was pressed against the island in the middle of the kitchen. He dropped her wrist and she winced at the loss of his hand wrapped around it, the blood rushing quickly to her fingers that she didn't realize was being held back. "

Brace yourself against the countertop, Betty." Jughead whispered in her ear.

She tried to look over her shoulder at him, her eyes wide but her head snapped forward towards the crowd as he finally shoved two fingers deep inside her aching heat. Betty's eyes closed tight as she gripped onto the countertop. She tried not to moan at the feeling of him pressing his long fingers inside her, his fingertips curling upward to hook against her G-Spot. He's going to kill me, she thought. She tried to focus on her breathing and relax her face. She knew one look at her would give them away.

"How does that feel?" He growled between clenched teeth. When he heard her whimper in response, he dropped head a bit to lean against her shoulder. He had one hand braced on the counter next to hers, his body angled in towards her as his other hand worked it's magic between her thighs. He prayed it looked like they were merely having a very intense discussion to any onlookers. He started this game off his unrelenting lust from when he saw her last night and several shots of whiskey but now he felt like he was drowning in her.

Suddenly, a drunk Reggie appeared on the other side of the island, tossing his flask on the countertop. Betty yelled and jumped, effectively slamming Jughead's fingers so deep inside her that white sparks blurred her vision for a second and she clutched at the countertop beneath her.

"Why are there no girls," Reggie whined and poked his finger at his flask, effectively pushing it down the expanse of space in front of him.

Jughead never liked Reggie all that much, but in that moment he really hated him.

"Reg, there's plenty of girls here. Just look around." Jughead gestured with his free hand to the tons of girls behind him. He kept the other one nestled deep inside Betty, although his movements had stilled for the moment. "Or, I don't know, maybe get some sleep."

Reggie looked at him like he was out of his mind to even suggest the latter, and then he took in the pretty raven-haired beauty that Jones was with. "She's cute," Reggie smiled, his eyes totally glassed over as he started to reach out to her.

Betty kept her eyes forward, refusing to meet Reggie's as Jughead's hand twitched, forcing his fingers jolt inside her folds.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Betty cried out suddenly.

Jughead nodded in approval at her quick response to Reggie's advances and it earned her a very determined thumb circling her clit.

"S-Sabrina." She gasped. "My friend Sabrina is here and you'd like her! Look for a black headband." She finished, desperately trying not to come in front of Reggie.

Reggie's eyebrows shot up in excitement and he turned away, quickly heading back into the crowd without another word. But not without a stumble or two. Jughead pressed his hardness against the swell of her ass as his hand continued to bring her to the brink of an orgasm.

"What's wrong? You didn't like our audience?" He whispered in her ear. "After last night, I figured that might be a thing for you. The thrill of being caught."

Betty could feel herself gushing over his fingers and palm as he continued to work her, and she new she was about to come all over him like a sex-crazed maniac but she didn't care. She pressed back against his arousal and tilted her chin towards his face to reply, "It might be one of many things, but Reggie near any part of my fantasies is definitely NOT."

Jughead chuckled at that but it quickly turned into a moan when he felt her pussy clamp around his fingers. She was right there. So close. He started to pull his fingers out of her right when she started to writhe against him, nearing that beautiful release he was promising her with every twist of his wrist.

She gasped out, "No! Don't st-" Her words were lost as his fingers pushed into her harder than every before. Her hand flew to her mouth to cover her scream as his pinky and forefinger pressed alongside her clit, pinching it between them as his thumb teased her asshole, pushing against her tight pucker but not quite going inside. It was all she needed and her juices flew from her like never before.

"Jesus, Betts." Jughead groaned as she splashed against his palm while he hammered his fingers against her walls through her release. "Are you fucking squirting right now?" He growled in her ear, but there was no mistaking it. Betty had squirted all over his hand, down her legs, and onto the kitchen floor. "Fuck." Jughead wrapped his lips around the pulse in her throat to keep himself from crying out as well, because that experience… had him coming in his pants like a 15 year old boy.

What the fuck was wrong with him.

Betty, he thought, Betty's going to ruin me for every girl.

Jughead slowed his ministrations and Betty's head dropped down to rest on her forearms on the counter.

Oh, my god, Betty thought was a grimace. Did I - did that - did we just, do that? She was still trying to catch her breath and wrap her mind around what happened when she felt something soft between her legs and jumped a bit. Jughead was carefully using a kitchen towel to clean her up. Betty's head snapped up and she finally turned to look at him. "Juggie." Her mouth barely moved as she whispered his name. Jughead's eyes were dark behind his mask as he stared back into hers. The feeling of the towel on her thighs stilled and she opened her mouth to speak again when Sabrina came over, interrupting their moment with a loud, "Hey! I need a drink. Can I get back there?"

Betty looked over across the island at Sabrina in shock, but thankful it wasn't someone she didn't know. And it looked like the crowd as well as Sabrina had no idea what had transpired just then.

Jughead remained calm as he secretly pulled the cloth away from her, slide her thong back into place and zipped the bottom half of her dress back down.

"Hey Sab, Kitchen's closed for a minute. We had a bottle spill back here." He lifted the kitchen towel up before stepping backwards, careful to hide the stain in the front of his pants from his own orgasm behind Betty's figure. "If you wait a minute, I'll clean this up and run over to my room. I have the good stuff in there anyway." He grinned at her.

Sabrina rolled her eyes at him as she looked at the dark haired girl before her, who was trying desperately not to look at her face and seemed to stare at the ceiling like it was about to cave in on them.

"Okay… just hurry. I am not drunk enough to deal with these guys tonight. Especially some guy named Reggie." She shuddered.

Jughead dropped to his knees and swiftly wiped up Betty's release from the floor before taking in the sinful heels with a blood-red sole on them and kissing her ankle. Betty's gasped out loud and Sabrina looked at her again for a moment before Jughead was on his feet again, tossing the towel into the sink as he made his way towards the hall where his bedroom was.

"Be back in a minute!" He tossed over his shoulder, rushing as quick as he could between the crowd. Betty still refused to meet Sabrina's gaze and after what felt like an eternity, although it was probably 5 seconds, she turned on her heels and marched quickly to the front door. The fact that Jughead had fled from her the night before was not lost on her as she did the same thing to him tonight.

Sabrina was still looking off in the direction that Betty went, and thought it was odd that the top of the girl's dress wasn't zippered up all the way, when Jughead returned with half a bottle of Jameson and placed it on the counter. He looked around for Betty but Sabrina's voice pulled his gaze back towards her. "If you're looking for your friend, she bolted the second you left." Sabrina offered as she twisted the cap off of her flask and started to pour the Jameson inside.

Jughead groaned and slammed his fist on the counter, "Goddamnit!" Sabrina didn't flinch from his outburst and took a sip from her flask as she took in his frustrated appearance. Wasn't he wearing black pants a second ago? He was in jeans now. Odd.

Jughead wiped a hand over his face, then exhaled sharply as Betty's scent was still fresh on his fingers from moments ago. Did I just make this whole situation worse? Should I call her? Should I -

His thoughts were interrupted by Reggie for the second time that evening. "Sabrina, where'd ya go? I been lookin' for ya all over!" Reggie cried as he almost knocked Sabrina over trying to wrap an arm around her shoulder.

"Ugh, get a handle on yourself." She mumbled and looked at Jughead for help.

He sighed and wrapped an arm around Reggie, transferring his weight onto him instead of Sabrina. "Come on, let's get you to bed." Jughead stated and started to drag him from Sabrina's side. She gave him a desperate look and mouthed, "Thank you," before rushing back into the crowd of people and out of sight.

"Aw, man come on! I was totes gonna score!" Reggie pleaded in the most pathetic voice Jughead had heard in probably forever.

Jughead laughed. "I promise you, you were not."

After Reggie was safely in his bed, sound asleep and drooling on his pillow, Jughead made his way to his own room. Archie was out with the guests again after having spent most of the night in his room with Veronica and was trying to shoo everyone out of the apartment before it got too late. He sat down on his bed and rested his head in his hands.

Looks like another night without sleep, Jughead surmised while thinking back on the night's events.

A soft knock had his head turning toward the door as it opened slightly and Veronica peeked her head through.

"How did your talk go? Betty didn't stay as long as I hoped." She asked but made no move to come into his room.

Jughead looked at her with wide eyes. "Did you know about what happened last night?"

Veronica rolled her eyes, "I'm the best friend. Of course I did. Besides, who do you think dressed her up for you?"

Jughead actually blushed, feeling embarrassed about the event all over again. "It went, I guess." He offered, not sure what to say or how to explain their time together in the kitchen.

"God, you're both so infuriating. You guys clearly like each other and this sexual tension," Veronica waved her hand towards him. "That you have is palpable. I heard people were scared to go into the kitchen for a good bit while you two were over there looking like you were gonna fuck right on the counter."

Jughead closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. I guess we weren't as stealthy as I thought.

"Look, Jug," Veronica said quietly. "I'm just trying to help two of my good friends get past this little hump. And actually get to humping!" She started to giggle like a school girl at her own joke and Jughead stared at her like he thought she might be high.

She caught his judgmental gaze and rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously! Just imagine how fun our double dates would be." She grinned and started to leave.

Jughead actually did smile at that. "Goodnight, Ronnie. Go help Archie with the drunks, I need some sleep. I'll go talk to Betty tomorrow."

"I'd send her something tonight if I was you. A text, at least. I know she's wide awake in our apartment just overthinking like the professional worrier she is." Veronica waved a hand through the door crack and called out a quick, "Night, Jug!" Before closing the door behind her.

Jughead sighed and fell back against the pillows on his bed. He turned towards his nightstand and grabbed his phone. He swiped his finger over the screen to wake it up and was about to text Betty when he saw a text from her had already been sent to him.

Betts: Are you still awake?

Jughead took a deep breath and typed a quick "Yes" in response. He stared at his screen, seeing her chat bubbles grace the screen before disappearing almost a dozen time. He started to sweat, worrying what she was about to say to him. Was she mad? Was she disgusted with him? Were they no longer friends?

After a good ten minutes of staring at the screen, he placed the phone down by his side. Almost immediately, his notification sound filled the room. He brought the phone up so quick that he almost dropped it and looked at her reply in shock. This was not the text he was expecting.

Betts: Want to come over?

(AUTHORS NOTES)
One-shot or continue their freaky meetings? ;)