The girl who appeared in pop's walked a few steps into the place, looking around completely terrified was breathing irregularly and smelt of dirt, humid, blood and horror. Her little feets were completely covered in cuts and dry mud, it looked like she couldn't even walk properly since her knees wouldn't move at all and her back was slightly curved, she was freezing, just like everyone in the retro restaurant who saw her, everyone was shocked and didn't know what to do.
And then, Jughead blinked.
He wasn't in a dream or some of his daily daydreams, or a nightmare. This was real, there was a girl in front of him with the most state of panic and horror that he's ever seen in someone, he needed to help her.
Yes, he was the leader of a gang, but that didn't made him an awful human being, right?
He snapped out of it and slowly, trying to not startle the fragile girl in front of him who was looking at the directions of the windows, careful and totally frightened, Jughead shoot a look to Pop's who scrambled to grab the phone and start to make some calls to the police because shit, there was a total stranger, on her tippy toes, marks on her body and bruises, all bloody and messy in his young man started to move closer to the girl, crouching down a little to reach her height and putting a sweet smile on his face who was rare for him.
"Hey… Hi" Whispered, gaining the dazed attention of the blond girl who startled, did jump a little and groaning for a few seconds looked doe eyed at the black haired man in front of her.
He noticed the strong smell of gasoline, dirt and sweet that came from her, and he just got even more worried, looking at her closely, he couldn't recognize her. Was she from outside the town? Because he did know every teenager on southside and northside of Riverdale, and she wasn't one from there.
"Hi sweets, you're okay now, you're safe now" he spoke softly, lingering to her ears, trying to soothe her.
The teenager just looked at the windows and stammered something he couldn't understand, it was just like if her tongue was sedated, he continued smiling since it looked as it helped to get her far from the entrance; Her voice sounded raw and rough, as if she hasn't said a word in days, or even weeks, high pitched and just soaked in despair.
Pop's already finished his call and was fixing something for the girl, it looked like it was towels and some water. The older people who was hanging out in the place, were not longer there, Jughead thought they may had leave a while ago, maybe before she entered, or maybe when she came in, making them feel afraid by the picture she offered; Jug was trying to figure out what to do, he was in a position in where things could go very wrong, even though he had Pop's as a witness that he was in the retro place when she came on.
His thoughts were distracted by a soft tug on his leather jacket, he looked down to see the hand of the girl, all bloody and dirty trying to gain his attention again by pulling him softly, but just with her fingers, she must have thought she couldn't mess his clothes up. Her eyes were shot open and her breathing was very loud, whimpering she tried to say something, the look on her face told him that she was trying to tell him what happened to her, but her mouth couldn't get a grasp of it, couldn't form words or the sound, just whimpers and vocals being stretched in a painful way.
His mind was puzzled until some hand tapped his shoulder, and there was the owner of this retro place who soon enough was going to be surrounded of cops, stretching his arm to pass him some towels and wet toals, still shaken up, Pop's looked scared of the girl, of the situation in general, Jug just smiled thankful and grabbed a few of them, taking the small hand of the girl to clean it a little bit in front of the attentive gaze of the blonde who wasn't giving up on her voice, on the sounds, carefully he cleaned her slender fingers and the palm of her hand, hearing her whimper in a little pain, she had cuts everywhere in her palm, tiny shaped crescent moon scars that by the look of it, were because of her nails. When her hand was clean, she grasped his sleeve firmly, surprising him.
"Hey there… I want to help you, okay? Do you wanna sit for a moment? Let me help you" She nodded, but her hand stayed on his sleeve, like she was afraid of let go, as if letting him go would take away her chance to be safe, to escape whatever she is escaping off..
He walked in a soft pattern to the bar, being closely followed by the young girl who didn't took her eyes off him, her lips trembling with anxiety as she sat down slowly into the seat, in pain and alone, a few tears found their way out the clear eyes of her.
Jughead sighed and stood close to her, he catched how his presence seemed to calm her down a little in a strange way, maybe she saw him in the past? Recognised him? Or it was the fact that only him was compassionate enough to approach her and show her concern and worry? She lifted her free hand who was in a weird position, crooked, her fingers were crushed, it looked entirely broken, she lifted it with a look on her face, she was showing him her broken limb, she was seeking help. The boy cleaned with a little wet toal her cheeks and her eyebrows, cleaning the dirt her lids were covered with and he just… Connected.
Her eyes were so clear, so passionate, emotional and full of emotions that he couldn't describe, her nose looked broken as well, and the way she was breathing could confirm that, her lips were slightly open since she was breathing through it, her cheekbones were crushed and covered in bruises, around her left eye were shadows of bruises, as if she had a black eye but now was fading away, her jaw seemed dislocated and his heart hurted because she looked so tiny, so fragile, so helpless. She was like a little child, refuging herself onto him, tugging his sleeve lightly like reminding herself that he was there. It was quite a sight since almost all Riverdale high school was totally terrified of the bad-tempered, rude and foul mouthed, Jones boy, and there it was that kid, acting like a total sweetheart to this strange girl who was spotting safety on just his stand.
She must be so beautiful, i just know it, before she became this messed up, fragile girl, she must have been so damn precious. He thought without stooping his hands from cleaning the girls face up, the police's siren was close, he could hear it, they would be in that place in less than a few minutes and another sigh escaped from his lips, she became more frantic, staying close to him and looking at the entrance wary. He shook his head with a little smile, a sad smile.
"Don't worry, they are cops, and will be here to help you.." He lingered for a little moment, he would have love to hear her voice complete the sentence with her name, but she only looked at him, he could see the gears turning on her head.
"I'm Jughead by the way" he blurted out when the police cars were parking outside, he knew what would happen next, Pop came almost running from inside the place to talk to the police officers, to the sheriff who was looking at them from outside the window, he accommodated the girls hair and cleaned a little bit her nose, her response was grumbling with small whimpers.
"They're gonna take you to the office and they will help you, they will reach to your family…" Her whimpers increased and now it was her time to shake her head, a strangled facial expression on her face, Jug didn't understand what she wanted to transmit to him. The sheriff was a few steps from the door, and he could already hear the little bell.
"It's okay, it's gonna be oka-"
"B… Beee… Bbbbbbeee…Tttt… Bbbbeeeeeettt" Sounding desperate and anxious she tried again, blurting little sounds but now, they had a little bit of coherence, she tightened her grip on his sleeve, her knuckles were surely gonna get sore. "Bbbbbbeeeeeeettttt… Yy" Her voice cracked, the sheriff reached them, and she jumped scared again of that person.
Jughead's mind was fuzzy by the voice of the tiny girl who looked satisfied of completing her task and then did a total change to be frightened by the sheriff presence, tugging on his sleeve, grabbing his arm actually and trying to hide behind him… Betty.
Betty, that was her name, she has tried to say that since she entered the restaurant, Betty.
"Jughead… I'm not surprised to see you here… We were called, Pop's says this girl appeared from nowhere, do you know her?" the sceptical look on the sheriff face's annoyed the hell outta Jug, he groaned and shook his head again, the girl was whimpering again, he felt her forehead rest on his low back, she was so tired.
"I do not know her, i've never seen her around… She's certainly not from Riverdale"
Sheriff's stare was confused for a few moments and his eyes were somewhere else, his posture became tense as his hands were posed in his hips, in his mind there was a huge conspiration already, trying to find a solution for this extreme case that was so rare, in Riverdale did not happened this things, strange bloodied people who appears from the darkness of the night, covered in marks, cuts and bruises… He's never seen something like this.
"Well… Then might as well be starting this case, we will take her to the station and start the investigation as soon as possible." Sheriff's radio was loud, so loud for Betty's liking, she closed her eyes and tried to scrunch her nose who got her whimpering in pain, she tried to gulp down her noises but it wasn't significant since Jughead turned around for a moment to watch her, his smile brightened a little the girl's spirit, her grip on his arm only intensified. "Let's go, little girl"
The man of the law tried to grasp the girls hand only for her to let out a screeching scream, shutting her eyes and hiding her face in the leather jacket, not caring that her nose was throbbing or her cheekbones were on fire, she didn't want to be touched, minus by a man like that, she didn't trust him, but she did trust the beanied boy, why? Tears poured down her cheeks, rising the burn on her cuts, her loud sobs were accompanied by her yelling, her throat was breaking.
"Sweetheart, calm down… I'm the sheriff, you will be okay"
But none of his words would calm her at all, she keept her whimpering and screaming, with her eyes shut and her hand in a death grip, Sheriff tried to calm her, there was an ambulance outside and some of the helpers were already surrounding Jughead and the girl, but she was hysterical. Jughead couldn't take it any longer. He turned around in a slight movement, standing in front of the blonde who shocked stopped her sounds and looked up, her eyebrows scrunching a bit and her mouth half-open. Jughead smiled and bend down to reach her eye level, everybody around stood quiet, expecting the dark haired boy to snap or curse at the loud blond, but it never happened.
"Hey, Betty, right?" The girl gasped softly, her eyes sparkled with hope and it hurted Jug's soul, she looked so hopeful at the boy's recognition, he understood her! He catched her words! "Listen to me, these are good guys and will help you, they need to check on your cuts and bruises, and find who you are"
"Bbbee...Ttttyyy" She repeated, find who she is? She is Betty! Why was he asking again?; The sheriff raised his eyebrows in surprise, the stressed out girl who screamed at the only sound of his voice was listening quietly to the leather jacket kid and was actually responding to him, she felt safe with that boy, Sheriff started to talk through his radio and asked the guys from the ambulance to get out of Pop's and wait outside.
"I know, i know you're Betty" Jughead snorted and raised his free arm to caress the blond strand of hair that keep on the girls forehead, bothering him a little. "But they need to find more, where you come from, how did you reached Riverdale, because you're in Riverdale, did you knew that?"
She looked confused and whimpering for a few seconds, shook her head and kept tugging on him, scared of letting go, she was stubborn, didn't want to let go and Sheriff got a hold on that, sigh and then moved his hand towards Jughead, catching her flinch at his sudden movement.
"Okay, Jones you'll need to come with us, she is clinging to your arm as if you're her life saviour, and by how she acted when i got here, i know for a fact she won't come with me without more screaming and cries and honestly, she could hurt herself… Just look at her" And he was totally right.
She was barely holding herself together, sitting in an awkward way, her back curving, her eyes were fazed, her chest was moving up and down in an almost exaggerated way that just reflected how exhausted she was feeling, how close she was to just pass out. The physical damage was visible on the outside, the sheriff was referring himself on the mental damage and the interior one, they needed to do something, she needed him, and god if he felt relieved to be able to go with her.
"Okay, i'll go i'm going to just call someone to come and get my bike. " Sheriff nodded and stared for a little moment at the girl who did not take off her eyes off Jughead.
He texted Archie, the red haired boy responded almost right away, he always wanted to ride the monster (as he awkwardly called the bike), so each opportunity his raven haired friend allowed him to do so, even if it's just for a few moments or just for a short ride, he was more than happy. After that, Jughead gave the keys to Pop's who promised to give 'em to Archie when he reached the place, he sighed softly paid his bill to the man who just laughed it off. Walked backwards for a few steps and as he expected the blonde got down from the seat she was on, setting her feet on the ground with some groaning and then walking towards the boy who couldn't stop himself from comparing the girl to a baby who was learning how to walk.
The walking proceeded to happened outside the retro place with even more complaining in the girl's behalf. Soon the ambulance shortened his distance to the teenagers, and a few minutes later, Jughead and Betty were on their way to the hospital, he sitting besides her, she never let go of his sleeve.
