Author's Notes: Good news everyone! I've decided that Jughead is going to officially wake up sometime in the next chapter! I just miss him as a character, and I don't think I can go on for much longer without him… jk. And like I said in the last chapter, we're going to get a bit more insight into Sweet Pea's backstory. Also like I said, Sweet Pea is an underrated character. While I didn't really understand his name at first, it's really grown on me, so… yeah! Sweet Pea's backstory in this chapter! We also learn his real name (I came up with it, it is loosely based on his IRL name, so yeah), and what happened to him, and why he's a Serpent! So without further ado, let's get right into the chapter!

BETTY'S POV

Welp, it's a Tuesday, and I'm officially eighteen weeks pregnant with Jughead Jones's baby today. That's exciting, right?

It should be. But Jughead's still in a coma, and the doctors are saying that he might not ever wake up, which is scary. I told them that they can think that, and tell other people, but they should never say that to me again, which they said was alright.

At this point, everybody knows about the baby except for Jughead, the baby's father. I want to know the baby's gender, but it feels wrong, just the idea of knowing, when Jughead doesn't even know I'm pregnant.

Eighteen weeks also means I'm five months pregnant now, I only have four left until I'm officially a mother. Hopefully, Jug wakes up by then. I'm hopeful, but that hope is quickly diminishing.

For the time being, I decided to move out of Thistlehouse and move back into the house on Elm street. Why? Because, of course, the Jones' bought it! Well, Gladys Jones did, saying that she wanted to stay in Riverdale a bit longer than she anticipated. Not only for her son, but because she misses Riverdale, and thinks that Jellybean should stay here a little longer, too.

I'm living in the same room I always have, with Jellybean taking what was Polly's room, and FP and Gladys, of course, occupying my parents' room. It's decorated differently, of course, but the same type of style, which is somewhat comforting.

Mom's officially moved into The Sisters of Quiet Mercy premises to be with Edgar, and marry him and be with everyone on the Farm, because that's all that matters these days.

Right now, I'm out at the Lodge family's cabin down at Shadow Lake. Veronica insisted I needed a weekend away, saying that all the stress is bad for the baby, which is true, and said that a pampering weekend should take a bit of the edge off.

"So… is the hot tub as relaxing as I think it is?" Veronica asked me, turning down the heat a bit at my request.

We were sitting in the hot tub, Veronica sipping on her glass of Cristal, me sitting there drinking my water.

I nodded with a smile on my face and said, "Actually… it is. Honestly, Vee, I did not have high hopes for this weekend getaway. I thought it was going to have to be me pretending to be happy all this time, but it really isn't,"

"Well, I'm thankful I've helped you a bit," Veronica said. She reached her hand over and touched my stomach lightly, rubbing around a bit.

Ever since I felt that first kick around a month ago, I haven't really felt much other movement. According to Dr. Patel, I should start feeling movement again. Now, both me and Veronica have been obsessing over it, touching my belly at every chance we get, trying to feel some sort of kick or movement.

Well, I've felt a bit of movement, but so far no official kicks, which is okay.

I took another sip of my water, and looked down sadly at the water. "Veronica, what if Jughead doesn't wake up? What if he never meets the baby, or worse, never even knows about it?"

Veronica touched my arm comfortingly and said, "Betty, it's okay. You have confidence that Jughead's going to wake up. I'm confident of that, and so is Archie,"

"Thanks, but I don't think that'll make much of a difference," I said sadly.

"Oh! Speaking of Archie…" she gave me a coy smile as she stepped out of the hot tub and said, "He's brining over some burgers and shakes from Pop's later tonight. How does that sound?"

"Amazing!" I exclaimed. "Ugh! We've been gone half a day and I already miss Pop Tate's delicious food!"

Veronica chuckled and said, "Me too," she then looked a little guilty.

"Vee… what is it?" I asked concerned.

Veronica sucked in a breath and said, "Apparently, the doctor has some news about Jughead. Archie won't tell me if it's good or bad, he says he wants us to find out together,"

This obviously scared me.

My mind was thinking, If Archie doesn't want to tell Veronica, it's probably bad. He's probably fallen deeper into his coma… or gone to a vegetative state. Or maybe he died!

She could clearly see all the fears neatly presented on my face, because she quickly rushed back into the hot tub to give me a wet hug.

"It's okay, Bee," Veronica reassured me. "Not all hope is lost. Maybe Archie doesn't want to tell us over the phone because it's good news?"

I let a few tears slip out of my eyes before saying, "I seriously doubt that. He just doesn't want you to tell me before he can,"

"Elizabeth Cooper!" Veronica scolded. "Please, do not think that way. We don't know what's going on with Jughead. If it's something bad, we're only twenty five minutes away from Riverdale, we can get there quickly if need be,"

I let out a relaxed sigh and said, "Sorry, Vee… I'm not meaning to rain on the parade or anything, I'm just-"

"Worried about your boyfriend," Veronica finished for me. "It's okay, Bee. Even though I may not really get it, I understand worrying about your boyfriend. With Archie getting into boxing recently… and with his temper… I'm really worried he might get annoyed at school and start a really bad fight,"

I touched Veronica's arm comfortingly and said, "Don't worry, Veronica. Archie's a fighter, no pun intended. I've known him since we were both four years old, I know him. He'll get through whatever's thrown at him,"

"And even though I've only known Jughead for about two years, I know he's a fighter, too," she then looked at me, with undeniable hope in her eyes, and said, "He will wake up, Betty. I know it,"

Just as best friends should, Veronica always soothed me. Jughead will always be the one who can truly calm me down in any situation, but Veronica can do what she does best: calm. She calms me in a way that even Jughead can't, in most situations. She's my rock, the person I lean on when I can't lean on anyone else.

Both of us calmed down then, and we decided it would be best to just live our best lives, at least until Archie gets here with the news about Jughead.

I'd gotten tired (thanks, pregnancy), and we decided to towel off, and go inside the lake house to wait for Archie to get here with the food.

It was around ten thirty when Archie finally arrived. Even though I'd already eaten basically three meals (hot dogs and burgers separately), I was somehow still hungry. I quickly devoured the food from Pop's, and then we sat down in the living area and me and Veronica started questioning Archie.

"I don't want you to beat around the bush here," I told Archie straight-up. "I just want to know what's going on with Jughead. Is he alright?"

Archie smiled and said, "Actually, he's doing a lot better. The doctors are saying there's a chance he'll wake up soon,"

"Wha-that's great news!" I exclaimed, definitely not expecting that.

"But…" he said quietly as his face fell. "They said that the security cameras showed footage of a blonde woman wearing a Southside Serpents jacket was roaming around the hospital… they think they were looking for Jughead,"

Penny Peabody. Of course! Honestly, this just confirms Sweet Pea and Fangs' theory that Penny was the one behind the 'motorcycle accident.'

"He's alright though?" I asked hopefully.

Archie nodded and said, "He's doing much better than before, Betty, it's okay."

I let out a thankful sigh. "I need to go make a call," I said as I got up.

Veronica and Archie gave me odd looks, but I ignored them, and stepped into the kitchen to call Sweet Pea.

"Betty?" he answered almost immediately. "Is everything okay?"

I thought about this for a second before answering, "Well, yes and no,"

"What do you mean?" he asked worriedly.

"Jughead's doing better than ever, and the doctors are saying that there's a good chance he'll wake up soon," and before he could answer, I said, "But the hospital's security cameras show footage of a blonde woman wearing a Serpents jacket walking around the hospital, and we think she was looking for Jughead,"

"Penny Peabody," Sweet Pea finished irritably. "Of course,"

I exhaled loudly and said, "I just… thought that you should know, since we think it might've been Penny who attacked you, Fangs, and Jughead that day,"

He let out an angry grunt and said, "No, it's cool. Thanks for letting us know, Betty. If she does it again, we'll be ready,"

"Don't do anything dumb, please," I asked hopefully.

"No promises," he said, before quickly hanging up the phone.

I went back into the living room to find a confused Veronica, and an even more confused Archie.

"Who was that?" Archie asked.

I shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Don't worry about it," and then went back to drinking my water and talking and joking with Veronica and Archie. It almost felt like it used to, before Jughead was in a coma, and before I was pregnant.

The next day…

I decided to cut my part of the visit a day short and go back to Riverdale to visit with Jughead, and most likely discuss our next move with Sweet Pea and Fangs.

Honestly, both me and Jughead are so lucky that these two are so devoted to Jughead, and the Serpents. If it weren't for them, going through the majority of my pregnancy alone would've been much worse than it is, and my mental health would've diminished very quickly. But thanks to them, I've gotten this far without hurting myself or the baby, so that's good.

Archie drove me back to Riverdale in the jalopy, just as he had driven me to the hospital the day after Penny Peabody and the Ghoulies attacked Jughead the first time. Other than Polly, Archie had been the first person I told about my pregnancy.

"So… how you holding up?" Archie asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

I inhaled sharply and said, "Honestly? I have no idea. I mean, there's a chance my boyfriend might be waking up soon, which is the best news I've heard in literally years, other than the news about the baby, which seemed a bit more of a travesty at the time, but then we learn that there's probably a rogue Serpent trying to kill him,"

"What?" Archie asked, almost slamming on the brakes.

"Archie, watch the road!" I exclaimed, steadying the wheel under his hands. I laid back, and rested my own hands on my stomach. "Her name is Penny Peabody, and Fangs and Sweet Pea have some strange memory of her being there when the accident went down. We think she may have either ambushed them, and then staged it as an accident, or did something to all the bikes, but the worst to Jug's or something like that,"

Archie's eyes were wide with shock as he said, "That is… definitely a theory,"

I chuckled lightly and said, "Well, I'm not apologizing for looking into what may be an attempted murder case that may be the reason my boyfriend is laying in a hospital bed right now,"

"Of course not," Archie saved.

We rode in silence for the rest of the way back to Riverdale, my hands rubbing around my stomach, searching for any signs of movement. I felt a little movement when we hit a road bump, but then that was about it, no kicks or anything, unfortunately.

The second we got back in Riverdale, Archie dropped me off at Riverdale General, where I rushed to Jughead's room, to find Sweet Pea in there, alone.

"Sweet Pea?" I asked, sitting down in my usual spot next to Jughead, taking his hand in mine like I usually do. "What're you doing here?"

He sat up a bit, running his hand through his dark hair. "I talked to some of the other Serpents, and we all agreed that there should always be someone with him here at all times, even if visiting hours are done. I decided to take first watch,"

I began rubbing Jughead's hand with my thumb and said, "I can take a watch. I'm always happy to spend some extra time with him… even if he doesn't talk back,"

"No, Betty, you can't," he said quickly. "We can't let you do that. You need to take care of yourself and the baby,"

I scoffed and said, "So that means that I can't take care of my boyfriend, either?"

"That's not what I said," Sweet Pea retorted quickly. "I just… know that Jughead would want us to make sure you're okay, and that's exactly what we're going to do,"

There was pain in his eyes that I'd somehow never noticed before. A pain that I sensed had been there for a long time.

"What happened to you?" I asked, and immediately regretted it.

Sweet Pea looked at me, confused, and asked, "What do you mean?"

After realizing there was no going back now, I said, "I mean… like, what's your backstory? Other than your name, I don't know anything about you, and not to be rude, but I doubt Sweet Pea is your birth name"

He snorted and said, "It certainly is not," and at my look of curiosity, he smiled and said, "You really wanna know who I am? What happened to me?"

I nodded and said, "I mean… I did ask."

"Alright, I'll tell you, if it's gonna satisfy you," at my nod he snorted again and then began talking:

"I'm not a Serpent by blood, I was actually born in Greendale. When I was around four, my dad started drinking a lot, and my mom didn't like that. She would yell at him whenever he came home with a six pack, and then they would get into an argument that always ended with her getting slapped, or punched, or kicked, just hurt in some way. I hated it. I hated that he always hurt her.

"This went on for years. Over time, my mom started going out less for fear that her bruises and cuts would be seen by people in public. I don't know why she just didn't divorce him… she could've-we couldn've avoided everything that happened.

"When I was eight, my mom snapped. She finally yelled at him, and hit him back, and told him that he ruined her life, that he ruined my life. It was that day when my mom told him everything that he did that he snapped, too. He… he tried to kill her. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen and started swiping at her, and we just managed to escape alive.

"I wanted to go to the police, to tell them what my dad had done, but she didn't want to. We didn't take anything with us… we just took the car and drove to Riverdale, and started our life.

"By the time I was fifteen, my mom had fallen deeper and deeper into her job, just trying to make enough money for us to have breakfast. I was looking for a family, since my mom wasn't the best at being there. I met Fangs one day at Southside High… and he introduced me to the Serpents. All of a sudden, they became my home away from home. Yes, I've done things I regret with the Serpents, but overall, they saved me from a life of misery. I chose to get my tattoo on my neck so that people could always see it. Yes, there are circumstances you can't, but most of the time, my Serpent tattoo is the most defining characteristic on me. That's what I love about it,"

Sweet Pea just dropped his entire life story on me, and I wasn't complaining about it. With everything going on lately, I needed a distraction; to talk about other people's problems.

My mouth hang agape until I finally said, "Sweet Pea I'm so… so sorry that happened to you. Where's your mom now?"

"She uh…" he looked down sadly as he said, "Overdosed two years ago. I didn't even know she was doing drugs,"

The hurt was more prominent in his eyes now. "Oh Sweet Pea… I'm so sorry…"

"My real name isn't Sweet Pea, either. It's Jordan Riley,"

"Jordan Riley?" I joked. "Wow. I did not expect that,"

Sweet Pea chuckled and said, "I got my nickname because my mom came to my official Serpent initiation and called me Sweet Pea in front of everyone, and then that was it. I used to hate it, but after my mom…" he got choked up at this.

"It's okay, Sweet Pea, you don't have to keep talking," I told him. "But thank you, for telling me. It's been a good distraction, the few minutes it took you to tell me,"

We started laughing, and I touched my stomach again, eagerly feeling around for a kick. According to Gladys, the father into the pregnancy you get, the more the kicks hurt, but I don't even care if they hurt at this point! I just want to feel them!

Suddenly, Sweet Pea's phone rang, and it was a call from FP. His facial expression changed so quick, it made me anxious immediately.

He hung up and said, "Alright, FP said he found a loose Ghoulie who's ready to talk. I gotta go!" but before he left he said, "Stay here until either me, Fangs, or FP come and stay with him, got it? Okay, good!" he answered himself before I got the chance to answer.

A loose Ghoulie who's ready to talk? Sounds like a trap to me… but I wasn't going to make assumptions. I'm in no place to do that. I'm not the one basically controlling this whole operation… that's Fangs and Sweet Pea, and Toni occasionally.

So I just sat next to Jughead for hours and hours on end, holding his hand, talking to him about stuff like the baby, and how great I'm doing at school, and how everyone's worried about him. I told him that Veronica has faith that he'll wake up, which I thought I saw a smile at, but it just turned out he was breathing rather heavily in that moment.

At least he's breathing though, right?

Author's Notes: I would like to reiterate: Jughead is definitely waking up in the next chapter. After that, the story will get very slow-paced, and we're going to actually catch up with Betty's pregnancy and learn everything about it. Are you all excited to see how Jughead reacts to Betty's pregnancy? Because I am! Uhhhh… another chapter of Forgetful is out, updated like five minutes ago, so that's fun. I've been really on top of updating recently, which did not use to be the case! In all honesty, it's three in the morning right now, my dad's out of town, and my mom and brother are passed out in the bed. I'm in my room, my fan whirring next to me, sort of absent-mindedly writing this. I would like a few more reviews… some suggestions, constructive criticism, stuff like that. Is there any sort of word or phrase that you think I use too much? Is there a way you think I could change that? Any suggestions for the story? I have decided on a gender for the baby, which will probably be found out in the next chapter as well, but baby names baby names BABY NAMES please! That would be a great help! I have a few ideas in mind, but nothing has been decided, of course. Now, I'm exhausted, and gonna work on the next chapter in the morning. Goooooood night!