Jughead remembered watching her blonde ponytail bounce away from him on both occasions they'd chanced to meet before now, but as Veronica steered her into his living room, Betty turned back to look at him over her shoulder before following her through.
Betty.
It suited her.
Blonde hair, wide eyes, bright smile. Jughead shut the front door with an unplaceable feeling.
Veronica had always been one to take matters into her own hands. She drew people to her; charisma, his brain supplied, something he was fairly certain he lacked in a large way. Veronica never had trouble striking up a conversation with a stranger, and he was presented with another opportunity to see that skill in action.
Archie's raven-haired girlfriend introduced her to some of their other guests, Midge and her friend Nancy. Everyone had come over for pizza and drinks, as thanks for helping him and Jelly move in some way or another.
"Betty!" JB exclaimed upon her return from the bathroom.
"Hello, again," the blonde gave a little wave to his sister.
"What are you doing here? Did Jug offer you a drink yet?" she breezed by him, giving him a look.
"She just got here," he huffed.
"I did, yes," Betty grinned.
"We have beer, pop…" Jelly recited from the kitchen. "Milk, even. And Veronica brought wine. Pick your poison."
"Oh, um, just water, I think," she answered, sidling over and away from the other ladies.
"Not to sound rude," JB began, filling the request with a wry smile, "but why are you here?"
Betty laughed, and Jughead stared, slightly dumbstruck. JB's eyes flicked to his minutely and he saw her lips press together for a brief moment.
"Well," Betty took a sip of water, her own eyes catching Jughead's for a moment, before he looked away and busied himself with refilling a bowl of chips. "I got some mystery mail for a Forsythia Jones."
Jughead knew without looking that JB's face contorted in lightly veiled disgust, and he heard it in her answering tone.
"We can thank our parents for that lovely namesake. Well, shit, I fucked up the address. Sorry, Betty," she apologized, glancing at the envelopes; she had clearly filled out the wrong apartment number on the form at the post office. "But now you're here! I have no friends in the city," she said, laying the mail on the corner of the counter. "So tell me all about yourself. Do you wanna go to the Met with me? I've never been -"
"Jug!" Archie called from around the corner, and Jughead left his sister to chat with their neighbour. He was quickly pulled into a board game, but later, he looked up to find Betty's eyes locked on him.
His scalp prickled and his neck burned hot as she looked away, back to JB.
"So, Betty."
It was meant as a complete statement, and Jughead groaned internally, closing his eyes. Were little sisters always like this?
He remained resolutely concentrated on his laptop, fingers hardly faltering at her interruption.
"You like her."
Another full statement.
"I don't know her," he answered, realizing that this freight train would not stop until he participated, however minimally, in this line of interrogation.
"Well, it's a good thing she's coming with us to the Met this afternoon."
At that, Jughead looked up. A glint of self-satisfaction passed over her features before she raised her coffee cup and took a swig, surveying him over the rim stoically.
"I'm working."
"We both know you aren't," she commented lightly.
"Jellybean, what are you trying to do?"
"My preternatural senses are tingling."
"That's not an explanation."
"I argue 'preternatural' needs no explanation."
Jughead resisted the urge to snark, and instead started typing again.
After much badgering by JB, he agreed to go. Despite the fact that he'd lived in New York City for the better part of the last six or seven years, he'd never actually taken the time to go visit the Metropolitan Museum. It just hadn't been on his radar.
Everything would be fine. Jellybean would chatter enough for both Jones' and Jughead was pretty certain he would be able to 'get lost' in a nearby coffee shop if it turned out to be not his thing.
That was the plan.
But then Betty had met them at the front steps of their building and -
He'd spent his NYU years in dedicated study and self-imposed anonymity. He noticed the fairer sex often enough - there just hadn't been anyone that caught his attention with looks, and then held it with personality, not for awhile.
And then he laid eyes on Betty again, after watching her at their housewarming party, after watching her really chat with his sister and make her laugh, watching her help tidy up a bit after people started leaving, watching her give JB a big hug and offer help with anything she might need considering what was ahead for her.
She was waiting, standing at the bottom of the steps, and Jughead was pretty sure that despite the fact there was an uncommonly nice breeze, there was no oxygen left for his lungs to take in. She was swathed in a bright, royal blue dress, the kind that went right down to the ground, and her hair was shimmering gold in the sunlight. Whisps of it curled out of the precarious pile on top of her head, and she turned at the sounds of their footsteps.
"Kev, they're here, I gotta go," she spoke into her phone, continuing a beat later. "Yup, bye!"
Jellybean's older brother was quiet. He drove them, giving the impression that he was listening to her and JB, but Betty wondered if he didn't actually tune the whole conversation out. Either option was a possibility. It wasn't until after her and JB spent the entire ride over town talking about Betty's fairly young niece and nephew that he gave her a clue.
"Thank you," Jughead said. The two of the them were left in JB's wake as she hop-skipped over to pay for their parking, the door behind Jughead's seat still standing open from her flight. Betty unclipped her seatbelt, and he mirrored her action.
"For what?" she asked.
"For…" He turned to motion after his sister. "Talking to her? I don't know. Being so nice. Very… Betty."
She hardly had the chance to open her mouth to respond before Jellybean was back at the car.
"Okay, I've heard talk of actual suits of armour here, is that true? Because if it's true, that needs to be the first thing I see."
"Oh my god, you don't have to hover," JB grumbled.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Jughead pressed.
"Yes," she answered, exasperated. "Look, I have a bench, apple juice, and a muffin. I'm fine. I'll come find you guys in a few."
"Okay," Betty answered hesitantly. "Text me if you need anything." The teal cover of her phone case was visible in her hand.
They both turned away from her, and headed for the nearest gallery wall, throwing glances back and forth and over their shoulders at the younger girl.
"I told her she does too much," Jughead mumbled.
"I get the feeling she doesn't listen to people all that often, though." She fixed him with a look for a moment before moving her focus to a nearby painting. "'Very… Betty'?" Her voice denoted a question, and he realized she was quoting him from the car, and not commenting on the art.
"Yeah." He half-laughed. "You're…"
There was just something about Betty. She was so good and happy, and she nearly shone with the brightness of it, as if burnished from the inside out. It was positively entrancing, and he had to remind himself to look away from her occasionally to blink the sunspots from his eyes.
Like now. Like when she was looking up from where she stood at his side, the blue of her dress making her eyes appear more green by comparison.
Breathe.
Jughead looked away, his brain short-circuiting.
"I'm… what?"
The painting was a wash of blues and greens and a bridge - maybe? Maybe it wasn't a pond after all, it was Impressionist -
"I don't know," he answered, a little late. "Kinda like art. I never know how to describe art, either."
The minute the words left his mouth, he wanted to drop his head to a tabletop repeatedly. How could he have let that out without reciting it in his head first -
Her head was tilting to the side, and she was surveying the same painting with laser-focus.
"Jughead Jones," she started easily, her gaze thankfully fixed in place on the gallery wall and not his quickly reddening face, "did you just call me art?"
A/N: Just a little update before SDCC2017 starts and everyone loses their damn mind. A reminder that I'll probably be over on tumblr screaming and crying so if you want to blather on about things with me, I'll be there.
Leave me a note if you're liking this!