The next day, Veronica's plan to make the most out of every minute comes to a grinding halt. Jughead has a meeting at the university library about resuming his job there once the semester starts again, which conflicts with Veronica's plan to visit the David Bowie exhibition. Her evening plans to attend the trivia night at a nearby pub are also ruined when Betty tells her she has five dozen cupcakes to bake for an event at one of the youth centers in Brooklyn the following day. Veronica figures that may not be such a big loss after all. The last time they attended a trivia night there it had to end early because the half-drunk people from the other teams got too mad at them for getting all the answers right. The theme of the night was pop culture references and between her, Archie, Betty and Jughead, they were unbeatable.

So right now instead of sitting in a pub and possibly pissing off her opponents, Betty's furiously mixing the next batch of cupcakes while trying to keep an eye on those that are already in the oven.

Archie is sitting on the sofa strumming on his guitar. The event Betty volunteered her baking skills for lost their guitar player at the last minute and it didn't take much for her to convince Archie to take his spot. It's not the kind of place or audience he's used to, which is making him slightly nervous, but it's for a good cause and he could hardly say no to Betty's pleads. She was supporting his passion for music back when everyone else thought it was just another short-lived hobby that wouldn't lead anywhere, and he thinks that if it weren't for her, maybe he really would've given up.

"The kids are gonna love you, Arch, don't worry," Betty says with a bright smile, hoping to ease her friend's anxiety.

"I just don't wanna disappoint them."

He sighs, starting the song once again. Betty doesn't tell him that the teenage girls will probably be too crazy about his looks to be able to criticize anything about his performance. He's been trying to break free of the teenage heartthrob stereotype, but looking and sounding like a younger, American version of Ed Sheeran isn't exactly helping.

"So, how are things with Ronnie? Ever since you guys came back you've been together pretty much nonstop," Betty says as she spoons some batter into the muffin pan.

"Oh, Betty, I missed her so much," Archie replies with a dreamy look on his face that exclusively appears when he's talking about his girlfriend. "Despite the huge time difference we still got to talk every day, but there's only so much you can do on the phone."

He sighs, putting his guitar aside for a moment.

"I never realized how underappreciated webcams are until this summer," he adds with a smirk.

"You don't need to go into details." Betty scrunches up her face. Archie is like her brother, and while she's happy for him and Veronica, talking about sex is where she draws a line. Not that it ever stops Veronica from oversharing, but at least Archie seems to be a bit more considerate.

"I'm sorry." Archie laughs, realizing he got a bit carried away. "But I didn't just miss the sex. I think being away from her so long made me realize how much I just love holding her, hugging her, sleeping next to her." He chuckles, feeling like he sounds like the biggest sap. Never mind all the cheesy songs he's written about Veronica to this date.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Betty says with a smile, thinking about Jughead. While their sex life has been mind-blowing, even a simple, innocent touch from him has her feeling so loved, so safe. More than she's ever felt with anyone else. Not being able to just hold his hand or lean against him whenever they're around Archie and Veronica has been the biggest downside of hiding their relationship from their friends.

"You do?" Archie raises his eyebrow at her in surprise.

"Yeah, I mean..." Betty stammers, realizing what she has just let slip out. She has been in a couple of relationship, but before Jughead there hadn't been anyone she was truly enamored with. And while she doesn't share many of those details with Archie, he may be aware of that.

"I... I had that. In the past," she says quickly, squatting down to the oven and pretending to check on the cupcakes, hoping the redness in her face goes away before Archie has a chance to notice. Thankfully, he shrugs it off and goes back to practicing his song.

"Only thirty more to go." Betty sighs, but tries to keep her attitude positive as she pulls the cupcakes from the oven. After all, it's all for a good cause.

"You know, you could've asked for help," Archie says as he watches his best friend wipe a strand of hair from her face, leaving a smudge of flour on her cheek. While Betty claims she finds baking therapeutic, he doesn't understand it. Music is therapeutic. Working out is therapeutic. Baking is a fire hazard. There is nothing calming about that.

"From you?" Betty laughs at his suggestion. "Sorry, Arch, but I'll never let you in my kitchen ever again."

Archie's face goes as red as his hair at the memory. He really didn't mean to set Betty's oven mitts on fire. Or hurt himself. He's not even sure how it all happened.

"Obviously I didn't mean from me."

"Ronnie isn't that much help either."

While Veronica is always eager to lend a hand, her cooking skills are about as good as Archie's. But at least she's a bit less dangerous. Besides, after turning down the invitation to the trivia night, Veronica decided to go out for drinks with some of her classmates, eager to share her stories from Paris with someone new.

"No, I meant you should've asked Jughead," Archie says.

"Jughead? Wh- Why would I ask Jughead?" she stutters, cursing herself for how a simple mention of her secret boyfriend makes her lose her cool.

"He told me," Archie replies simply, too preoccupied with a dirty spot on his guitar to notice Betty's reaction.

"What?" Betty's eyes go wide. Surely he wouldn't tell Archie about their little secret without consulting her first, would he? Or at least he'd warn her that their mutual best friend found out about it, right?

"Yeah, he made us a late lunch today and it was delicious. He told me you helped him learn to cook a bit more," Archie explains with a shrug of his shoulder. "I guess I should thank you. Takeout can only sustain us for so long."

"Oh, yeah, right. I did." Betty smiles, breathing a sigh of relief. She hates withholding her relationship with Jughead from Archie and wants to be the one to tell him once the time is right. "I thought that someone with such a bottomless stomach should know how to cook more than just three basic meals." She shrugs. This, at least, is not a lie.

"Now his personality is the only thing standing in the way of him getting a girlfriend." Archie snickers.

"That's not very nice," Betty berates him, though she knows there's no ill will behind Archie's words and he's just repeating something that Jughead himself has said many times. "I don't think his personality is the problem," she says, biting the inside of her cheek.

"That's what I've been telling him. He just needs a little bit of time to warm up to people. Maybe start as friends."

"Totally." Betty nods, trying to keep her face as neutral as possible.

"So do you think that maybe you and Jughead..." Archie trails off and Betty's eyes go wide at his suggestion. "I mean, he's single. You're single..." he adds as if that's a reason enough.

"And so are millions of other people. In New York alone. Would you try to set me up with all of them too?"

She's used to constantly being bugged about dating from Veronica, but Archie? She wonders whether his girlfriend put him up to it. But why would he try to set her up with Jughead of all people? Are they being less obvious with their sneaking around than they thought? Do their friends know and are just trying to get them to fess up? A number of questions flood Betty's mind all at once, but she has no time to think about them as Archie speaks up again.

"No, but... Jughead is a really nice guy, you know?"

"I know."

Betty smiles, turning her face away from Archie, hoping he doesn't notice. There's that pang of guilt again. Veronica is a born businesswoman. She knows the power of information and how important it is to reveal it at the right time. Betty's sure she'll understand. But Archie... Archie doesn't have a dishonest bone in his body. He's her oldest friend, her brother. So she feels bad for lying to him.

"So just... think about it," Archie says.

"Maybe I didn't think this through as much as I should have" Veronica groans as she laces up her ugly bowling shoes. When googling for the best double date ideas that could still pass as activities for just friends, almost all the websites suggested bowling, and she didn't think twice about what it would mean for her outfit choice.

"Be glad they managed to find adult ones that are small enough for you. You could have ended up in kid shoes with Velcro straps that have hair stuck in them." Jughead chuckles as he puts on his own shoes. He's not as offended by the faux-leather as Veronica is, and instead enjoys the fact that for once she managed to drag them to a place that makes her more uncomfortable than him.

"Ewww." She scrunches up her face in disgust at Jughead's comment.

"Be nice," Betty whispers as she nudges him with her elbow, but even she can't hide the amused smirk on her face.

"Everyone ready?" Archie asks as he finishes the knot on his shoes and they all nod, heading out of the changing room, when Veronica stops Betty in the doorway.

"I love your scarf, B, but are you sure you want to keep it on for the game?" Veronica asks, pointing to the big cotton scarf, wrapped around Betty's neck.

"I uh…" Betty's fingers fidget with the end of the scarf nervously, knowing that if she takes it off Veronica will have questions that are harder to answer than her choice of accessories. "I was feeling a bit feverish. I think I might be coming down with something," she lies, feigning a cough and tightening her scarf a bit more.

"Oh, no, B, you should've said something. We could've done something inside of our apartment instead," Veronica says, looking worried as she stretches her arm to feel Betty's forehead. "It feels alright. Not hot at all."

"Oh, I guess the medicine I took worked then." Betty lets out a nervous giggle.

"Are you sure, honey? We can still just go back home. You shouldn't exert yourself if you're unwell."

"I'm okay, Ronnie, I promise. It's just my throat. I'll keep my scarf, get something warm to drink and it will be alright." Betty gives her friend a reassuring smile, not wanting to ruin their whole evening with her lie.

"Okay then," Veronica says reluctantly. "But I'll keep an eye on you because I know Betty Cooper and she always puts the needs of others above her own."

"Ronnie's right." Archie nods in agreement. "When I broke my arm in middle school Betty refused to let me carry my books even though I had one perfectly good arm. So she walked to every class with me so she could carry them for me. When my mom found out, she was pissed I let her do it. But she doesn't know how stubborn Betty can be."

"I did threaten to stop talking to you if you refused to let me help you," Betty admits sheepishly as she remembers the incident Archie is talking about. Her back hurt from lugging his books around with her, but she refused to let her injured best friend do it on his own. "But I just have a cold, so can we please ignore it and get to the game?"

"Okay." Archie raises his hands in surrender, knowing that trying to change her mind would be pointless. "Let's get to it," he says and links his arm with Veronica, ushering her toward the bowling lanes before she can protest.

"Just for the record, I like it when you're stubborn. And it is a nice scarf," Jughead whispers with a grin and Betty shoots him a glare.

They've only managed to sneak away from their friends once in the past few days. Last night Betty claimed the trash needed to be taken out, even though it was still half empty, while Jughead claimed he really couldn't survive another minute without a hot dog from the stand down the street. Sure, he also got the hot dog in the end, but not before ravishing her against the side of their building. After two days of separation he may have tried to mark his territory a bit too hard, leaving her with a purple bruise on her neck.

"So I've been thinking we could play in two teams," Veronica announces as they reach their booth by the lanes.

"No offense Ronnie, but I don't think you stand a chance against me and Archie," Jughead says. Archie raises his hand for a fist bump, but before Jughead has a chance to react, Veronica wraps her arm around Archie's, pulling him to her side.

"I know. That's why I'll be on a team with Archie and you'll be with Betty," she announces with a grin, clearly proud of her idea. "We can even have team names. We'll be team Varchie and you'll be... Bughead."

Jughead rolls his eyes but doesn't protest. He knows that if Veronica already assigned them team names, however terrible they are, there's no use putting up a fight. Betty and Archie both just shrug their shoulders which, Veronica takes as an agreement to a question she didn't really bother to ask. She claps her hands with excitement before walking toward the bowling alley employee who's already waiting, ready to set up their game.

"I didn't know you were good at bowling," Betty says in awe as Jughead manages to hit nine pins on his first throw.

"There is a lot you don't know about me," he smirks over his shoulder before throwing the ball again and hitting the remaining pin with surprising precision. It's been a while since he last bowled and he was worried about being a bit rusty, but as it turns out, it's just like riding a bike.

"Is there?" Betty cocks her eyebrow at him.

"Well, okay, probably not a lot," he admits sheepishly. "But one of my well-guarded secrets is that I'm really good at bowling." After moving to Toledo halfway through sophomore year of high school, Jughead found himself a part time job at a bowling alley. It was smaller and even smellier than this one, but even though it didn't hold any particularly happy memories, being here makes him feel at home. Ironically so, as Toledo never felt like home to him. But that's why it didn't take much convincing from Veronica for him to agree to come. It's also why Jughead Jones, someone who became a master of fake doctor's notes just to avoid PE, has a surprising love for this particular sport.

"Well, it's not gonna be a secret much longer when we win." Betty grins as she approaches the bowling balls, picking a hot pink one.

"You seem very confident. I like that." Jughead smirks back at her.

"You're not the only one who has some secret bowling skills," Betty announces proudly, taking her stand at the lane and throwing the ball without much thought. "No, no, no!" she yells as the bowling ball makes its way straight to the gutter. This has never happened to her before and the horrified look on her face says as much.

"I'm sorry to tell you, Betts, but I think you're supposed to hit the pins." Jughead laughs, but puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Shut up! This is serious business." She crosses her arms over her chest, twisting her lips into a pout. "We can't let team Varchie win. They'll look like the better couple."

"But they don't even know we're a couple," he says, slightly confused.

"I don't see how that's relevant," she fires back. He doesn't dare oppose her.

"It was just your first try. You'll get better at it." He gives her shoulder a little squeeze in encouragement.

"I just don't get it." She lets out a frustrated sigh and if the pins could fall down just from how hard she's glaring at them, she would have hit a strike. "I know it's been like ten years since the last time I played, but I couldn't have forgotten how, could I? My sister and I used to go bowling for our birthdays when we were little. I was always amazing. Always."

"Did you by any chance have the bumpers up?" Jughead asks with a raised eyebrow and laugh threatening to spill from his throat.

"I..." Betty trails off when the realization hits her. "Shit!" she swears, and this time Jughead can't keep his chuckle inside.

"Don't worry, Betts. We can still turn things around," he says, trying to appear confident.

"C'mon, guys, don't stall just because you're losing," Archie calls out from behind them.

"How are we losing when you haven't even had your go?" Jughead narrows his eyes at him in confusion, but turns back to Betty before Archie has a chance to answer.

"Can you show me how to do it?" she asks, trapping her lower lip between her teeth as she eyes the bowling balls, unsure which one to pick. After her dreadful first throw and the realization that she maybe never had any bowling skill to begin with, she's feeling a lot less confident, but still equally dedicated to win.

"Sure." Jughead gives her a small smile and weighs a few of the bowling balls in his hand before handing her a bright green one. "I think this one will do," he says and positions himself behind her, instructing her on how to stand. "Are you pretending to not know how to bowl just to get me to touch you?" Jughead whispers in her ear, his hand sliding across her arm to put it in the correct position.

"Why would I use such cheap tricks?" Betty cocks her eyebrow at him over her shoulder. "If I wanted you to touch me I could just ask."

His breath hitches at that. It's still a little impossible for him to believe that he's in a relationship with Betty and not just pining for her from a distance. That he can touch her, kiss her, without the fear of rejection.

"Jug?" the sound of her voice brings him back to reality and he realizes he spent the last few seconds daydreaming.

"I'm just… assessing the situation," he lies and feels his face heat up, but Betty is too focused on the game to notice. Quickly, he gives her a few instructions on where to aim and when to release to ball before taking a step back and letting her try.

Betty focuses her eyes on the track ahead of her, and this time when she throws her ball, it successfully makes it to the end of the lane, hitting six of the pins.

"How about that, you stupid pins? Next time I'll knock you all down and win this game!" she yells at the remaining four pins with newly found enthusiasm, making Jughead laugh.

He's assumed Betty has a competitive streak ever since the day he suggested they do a game night to Archie. With fear in his eyes the redhead warned him to never play Pictionary with Betty.

"It's not my fault I couldn't guess the word 'landscape' from her drawing. There was no need to yell at me about it for ten minutes," Archie muttered to himself. Jughead, figuring it was a sensitive topic, decided to never bring it up again. But while his best friend seems to be slightly terrified of competitive Betty, Jughead finds her very attractive.

"You know, it's super hot when you get all competitive," he tells her quietly as they walk back to their booth, their friends and opponents already replacing them at the lane.

"I can get a bit carried away sometimes," Betty admits with a blush as she remembers the time she brought Archie to tears during a game of Pictionary. But really, how hard could it be to guess the word 'landscape'? She never had any problem correctly guessing Archie's poorly drawn objects.

"So I've heard," Jughead replies with a chuckle and leans back in his seat as they quietly watch their friends bicker at the track.

"Do you know how many people had their disgusting fingers in there? I'm not putting my freshly manicured hand in there!" Veronica stomps her foot and Archie rubs his face in frustration before he tries to help her figure out how to best throw the ball without having to put her fingers in the holes.

"I have a feeling this game won't be too hard to win." Jughead grins and leans back in his seat when Veronica finally finds a way to throw her ball, just to have it land in the gutter.

"I wouldn't celebrate too soon. Veronica can get pretty inventive when she wants," Betty says and takes a sip of her drink. She feels Jughead's eyes on her as she wraps her lips around the straw, and his sharp breath when she swirls it around with her tongue makes her grin.

"Aren't you?" Jughead cocks an eyebrow at her teasingly.

"You tell me." Betty looks up at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth, eyes glistening with mischief as the hand she innocently placed on his knee just seconds ago inches upward.

"I…" the words get lost in his throat as her palm presses against his thigh. Betty seems to be in an especially flirty mood today and he wants nothing more than to play along. However, he doesn't want his body to get over excited with their friends just mere feet away. Something that seems impossible when Betty looks at him like that. "I think… I think you can get anything you put your mind to," he stutters and she flashes him a bright smile.

"You're up, guys." Archie's voice startles them and Betty quickly pulls her hand away before their friends can get close enough to notice.

They look up at the scoreboard, both of their jaws dropping a little as they see the stats in bold blue color. Team Bughead – 16, Team Varchie – 14

"C'mon, Coop, if you wanna win you need to up your game," Jughead says with a grin and Betty squares her shoulders in determination.

"We're gonna crush you. Just watch," she tells her two best friends and follows Jughead back towards the lanes, even more set on winning than before.

"If you hit eight they have no shot at winning," Jughead says as he quickly does the math in his head. Somehow, despite Veronica's poor attempts, the score between the two teams was more or less equal most of the game, with Betty and Jughead only getting ahead in the last two rounds. "You can do this, Betts."

Betty nods and after a few seconds of adjusting her position, she throws the ball. After her dreadful first attempt, a few tips from Jughead and an unhealthy dose of competitiveness, she's been doing surprisingly well, usually able to hit majority of the pins.

Betty and Jughead both intently watch the ball roll toward the pins as if in slow motion. But they're not in a movie, so it only takes a few short seconds for the bright green bowling ball, which is now Betty's favorite, to arrive to the end of the lane and hit nine pins.

"Oh my god! I did it!" Betty exclaims, the scoreboard now showing team Bughead a full twenty-two points ahead of team Varchie. "I really did it," she repeats in disbelief as a huge grin spreads across her face. As her initial overconfidence died down after her first unsuccessful attempt, she started to worry her team might not win as easily as she hoped. Now, however, she feels like she's on top of the world.

"You did it!" Jughead says with a matching grin, and the next thing she knows her feet are off the ground as his arms wrap around her and he lifts her up, pulling her into a tight hug.

"You're amazing Betty," he murmurs into her neck and she laughs softly against his chest.

He slowly sets her back on the ground and his hands linger on her hips for a few more seconds. He really, really wants to kiss her right now, and by the way she's staring at his lips he knows she's thinking the same.

"Juggie…" she breathes, her eyes moving back to his, wondering how to express her happiness without completely revealing their relationship to their friends. For a second she wonders whether the hiding is even worth it.

Before she has a chance to decide, the moment is ruined by the sound of Archie's dissatisfied booing. When they turn toward their friends, Veronica is telling him something in a hushed tone, accompanied by what can only be called a death glare.

While Betty, buzzed from the victory, is ready to play another round, the rest of them vote against it, deciding it's time for food. The bowling alley, while small, provides a good variety of greasy food, some of which has Veronica scrunching up her nose in disgust, but eventually they all find something to either celebrate the victory or comfort themselves with.

They chat animatedly and Archie starts telling them a story from the youth group concert that Betty brought him to when Jughead nudges her with his elbow, pushing his basket of fries in front of her. He knows that if she's going to listen to Archie's story one more time, she'll need some comfort food. The little gesture doesn't go unnoticed by Veronica as Betty smiles and takes a few of the fries, popping them into her mouth, while Jughead's eyes hang on her lips for a few seconds too long for someone who is supposedly just her friend.

"Betty, can you accompany me to the ladies' room?" Veronica asks once Archie finishes his story and before he gets the chance to start another, equally long-winded one.

"Sure." Betty nods, knowing that Veronica isn't really asking. The guys exchange a confused look that men always get when they don't understand the point of girls going to the bathroom in groups.

"Sooo," Veronica drawls as she runs her fingers through her hair, locking her eyes with Betty's in the mirror. "You and Jughead are looking very chummy tonight."

"What?" Betty's eyes go wide and she hopes she can mask her panic by acting surprised. "I don't know what you're talking about," she adds for good measure, wondering whether she's only making herself appear more suspicious. She's pretty sure Veronica can sniff out lies miles away.

"Oh c'mon, B. It's obvious." Veronica rolls her eyes, but smiles.

"I really don't..." she tries to protest, but Veronica raises her hand as a sign that she's not finished.

"You're making it pretty obvious. But you don't need to hide it from me. So you have a secret crush on Jughead. And so what?" She shrugs and pulls out a lipstick out of her purse. "While he's not my type, he's objectively good looking. And he's a good guy."

"I don't..." This time Betty stops herself. Is that what Ronnie thinks? She wonders whether making her best friend believe that would take her off the scent of her real secret. "It's Jughead," Betty says finally as if that alone is a reason enough.

"So? I know we've had our fair share of conflicts but you guys? You always have each other's back. And he seems to adore you." Veronica uncaps the lipstick and carefully starts applying it to her lips.

"No he doesn't." Betty shakes her head and feels her cheeks growing warm. Of course she knows that Jughead likes her. Probably more than likes her. But adore? That sounds like a strong word. She hasn't done anything to deserve his adoration, has she?

"He offered you his fries. I don't think he's capable of showing his feelings any better than that," Veronica scoffs, making a kissy face in the mirror before putting the lipstick back to her purse.

"Don't be silly, Veronica. Jughead and I are friends. He was just being polite." Betty tries to brush it off, though she knows that sharing food is not something Jughead does easily. She may need to berate him about it later.

"Okay, whatever helps you sleep at night. But mark my words, he likes you. So if that's what you're worried about, you don't have to be. Just... please don't break his heart." Veronica jabs her perfectly manicured finger into Betty's chest and Betty has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling. "I really don't need to hear him mope about it for months."

"You don't need to worry," Betty says. It's the first completely honest sentence coming out of her mouth since entering the bathroom.

After they return to their booth, Veronica falls into easy chatter with the guys, who are trying to rate her group date ideas from best to worst. They're currently unable to decide whether the visit to the water park where a man died and the whole place had to be evacuated was worse than the time they went to the zoo and Archie got kicked by a kangaroo and ended up in the ER.

"What about that underground concert though?" Archie asks.

"Eight out of ten for the music, two out of ten for the concert turning into a cult meeting," Jughead muses.

Betty only half listens to them as her mind is still preoccupied by what Veronica said to her in the bathroom. She wonders whether she and Jughead have been a bit more obvious with their feelings for each other than they thought.

"You okay, B?" Veronica asks when she notices Betty has been uncharacteristically quiet.

"Yeah." Betty shakes her head, as if to clear her thoughts. "Just thinking. How about the time we went to Veronica's classmate's dinner party and it was all vegan food?"

"Oh, yes, the betrayal." Jughead scrunches up his face at the memory. "Veronica has some weird friends."

"You mean like you?" Veronica says with a raise of her eyebrow and Jughead just shrugs. It's been long since he embraced his weirdness. It is hardly an insult for him.

"Now that we're done playing can I finally take these terrible shoes off?" Veronica asks all of a sudden, scratching her ankle where the shoe meets her skin. "I think I'm having an allergic reaction to the poor quality faux-leather."

"It's probably just from the spray they use to disinfect the shoes. You know, if they ever do that," Jughead teases, earning himself a kick under the table from Betty and another tortured whine from Veronica.

"Archiekins, will you come with me to change back into my shoes?" She bats her eyelashes at him and he practically bolts out of his seat.

"Can you order us some sodas while you're there? And maybe some onion rings? And take a look whether they have any good desserts. You are paying for all of this, right? Since Betty and I are the winners after all." Jughead asks with a smirk and Veronica rolls her eyes.

"Yes, we're paying. Anything else you'd like to order?" She crosses her arms and cocks her eyebrow, as if daring him to ask for more.

"Nope, I'm good," he replies with an uncharacteristically wide grin. "What about you, Betts?"

He asks and Betty shakes her head, but he can tell without her having to respond that she's uneasy about his interaction with Veronica.

"I'm just teasing," he says, taking Betty's hand into his. "It's not every day that Veronica finds herself in a situation that she can't adjust to immediately. After all, that's exactly what she does every time she forces me to go to some fancy wine tasting or a yacht auction."

"The yacht auction was a terrible idea," Betty admits with a giggle. "I just don't want there to be any tension between my best friend and my boyfriend."

Boyfriend. As cliché as it is, Jughead must admit the word sounds like music to his ears. Sure, it's not the first time he's been someone's boyfriend, but it might be the first time he wears the title with such pride.

"I promise I'll behave. But I can't suddenly be too nice to her or else she may get suspicious."

"Yeah, about that…" Betty trails off, trying to give him a scornful look but failing when he laces his fingers with hers and gives her that little smile that always makes her chest contract.

"What is it?"

"Ronnie seems to be watching us a bit too closely and she now thinks you adore me," she says with a little roll of her eyes, suggesting she thinks her best friends is exaggerating.

"Am I that obvious?" Jughead raises his eyebrows with a laugh. "I may have been overestimating my poker face."

"So that's a yes?" Betty asks, unable to keep the hint of surprise from her voice.

"Of course it's a yes," he says, sounding almost offended. "I must be doing something wrong if you haven't noticed it yourself."

"No, Jug." She squeezes his hand under the table a little tighter. The last thing she wants him to think is that he's not doing enough to show her he cares. "You've been so wonderful to me. I guess I just... didn't think I deserve it. Adoration."

"Oh, Betts." He shakes his head in amusement, running his thumb across the back of her hand. "I so much more than adore you. I..." he manages to stop himself before the words have a chance to tumble out of his mouth. It's something he's been thinking about a lot recently. He's had a couple of girlfriends in his life, but nothing too serious. Definitely not serious enough to make him even think of those words.

With Betty everything is different, more intense. And while it terrifies him a little, it also fills him with excitement. But how is he supposed to know if she feels the same? What if it's too soon? Is there even such a thing as too soon when it comes to love? More and more questions keep popping up in his head and he's unable to answer any of them. The only thing he does know is that a stinky bowling alley is not the ideal place to tell his girlfriend that he loves her for the first time.

"What is it, Jug?" Betty asks with a hint of concern. It's not unlike Jughead to grow quiet and get lost in his mind, but this time she feels like there is something bothering him. Like he has something to say.

He shakes his head lightly, chasing the thoughts away. "I'm just… glad to be here."

"Me too." Betty beams up at him and presses a quick kiss to his lips. "Thank you."

He wants to ask what for, but before he has a chance they see their friends approaching and Betty squeezes his knee below the table and pulls her hand away.

After polishing off the food Veronica and Archie brought back, the four of them split a cab back to their apartment building. Jughead sits in the front, and although he brags to Archie about the added legroom, he'd much rather be the one with his knees pressed to the back of a seat if it meant getting to put his arm around his girlfriend.