Jughead paces back and forth down the hallway while Betty sits in the bathroom, peeing on a plastic stick that may or may not determine their entire future. "Did you put a timer on?" Betty asks from the other side of the door. She refuses to let him watch her, it's not like he's never seen her naked before.

"I got it babe." Jughead forces out. While he waits, he runs into his room and grabs his Polaroid. Whether it's a single line or a double, this moment demands to be documented. Either the first of many baby pictures or just a photo they'll laugh at years from now, when the worst thing they ever thought could happen was becoming parents.

When the timer on his phone begins to sound Jughead pushes his way into the bathroom. He doesn't care if Betty's squatting on the toilet with her pants pooled around her ankles. He needs to be a part of this moment. It's his problem too.

Betty's dressed and sitting on the edge of the tub. She has her hands over her eyes as if she's participating in a game of "Peek-a-boo" with a small child. Jughead sets his camera down on the counter and walks towards her. He removes her hands from her face and pulls her to her feet. Once she's steady he takes her hands and kisses each of her fingertips before interlocking their fingers together.

"Are you ready?"

There are tears lining her cheeks but she nods, hiccupping from all the crying she's done that morning. "It's on the counter. I can't bring myself to look at it."

Jughead releases the hold he has on her hands and picks up his Polaroid. He brings the camera to his eyes and focuses on the pregnancy test sitting beside it. Through the lens he reads his fate and snaps a photo. The sound of the picture printing is all he can hear, thundering in his ears. His heart races like the wings of a hummingbird. He takes the photo and stares at it, watching and waiting as the image forms and clears. With trembling fingers he hands it over to Betty, leaning in to press his lips to her forehead.

"Oh." Is all that escapes her lips before a new round of tears cloud her eyes. The photo shakes in her hand and Jughead envelops Betty in his arms, wrapping her up in hug so tight he's afraid he may suffocate her. He wants to wash away all her worries and her fears. He wants her to say something more than 'oh'. He wants her to stop crying and talk to him.

Betty pushes him away and tosses the picture on the counter. He watches her turn right out the door, knowing she's headed for her bedroom. He hears the slamming of her door. His heart crashes in a blazing fire in the pit of his chest. He grabs the test and the photo from the counter; tossing the test in the garbage and taking the Polaroid with him into his room. He grabs a pen and captions the image.

Oh Baby!

He pins the photo to the wall above his bed and swallows the lump in his throat. He needs to get up. He needs to leave. He needs to talk to Archie.

Jughead throws on a shirt and stalks across the hall. It's barely 8 am and remembering the night before, his friends are probably sleeping off their hangovers but he doesn't care. He pounds his fist on the door until it opens.

"May I help you?" Archie groans. Jughead walks right past him and begins pacing circles in their kitchen, playing with the sleep tousled curls on his head. "Sure, come on in Jughead." Archie says sarcastically as he shuts the door. When Jughead says nothing Archie starts to worry. "Dude what's wrong? You're starting to freak me out."

Jughead looks up from the floor and shoots Archie a look that he can only imagine is his version of the crazy eyes. "Betty -" He mumbles, but when he does his voice breaks and the whole morning crashes into him like a Tsunami wave.

Archie's eyes open wide in fear. "What's wrong with Betty?"

Jughead tries to speak but he feels the tears spark in his eyes and he lifts his fists to his eyes and determinedly fights away the crying. He refuses to cry. He's not going to let himself fall apart in Archie and Ronnie's kitchen.

When Archie places a soothing hand on his back the waterfall begins. "Ah. Fuck." Jughead cries, sniffling through the tears.

"Did she break up with you? What the fuck is going on Jug?"

Jughead shakes his head at Archie's assumption and just lets his shoulders vibrate as he cries. He wills himself to stop but there is no magic off switch for the faucet currently pouring from his tear ducts. He needs to kick something, needs to hit something, anything.

He takes a deep, shaky breath and opens his mouth to speak. "Give me something to break before I punch a hole in your wall."

Archie is quick to move over an arm's length away from Jughead and reaches into the cupboard above the sink. "Here. It's a china pattern that Ronnie's grandma gave to us, and we hate it, but don't have the heart to get rid of it."

Jughead takes the plate from Archie and putting all his weight behind it, throws it against the wall. The plate shatters into hundreds of little pieces and Jughead's heart is pounding like a sledgehammer in his chest. "Have you got anymore?"

Archie stacks up all the floral patterned china plates on the kitchen table and Jughead breaks them one by one, the frustration in his body simmering with every plate.

After the third one, Ronnie stomps into the room. "What the hell is going on in here? Is that my grandmother's good china?"

Jughead grabs another plate and smashes it. "Archie said it was OK." The fourth plate falls to the ground, blending in with the broken pieces before it.

Veronica turns on Archie and his cheeks almost match the color of his hair. "It was either that or he punched a hole in our wall Babe. What was I supposed to do?"

"Arch, plaster is a quick fix. That china is worth hundreds of dollars." Jughead throws another plate.

"So you're saying I should stop?" Jughead asks, holding a plate back, ready to nail it against the wall.

Veronica gives him a pointed look, her lips pursed in a straight line. "Yeah, that'd be a good idea. Unless you'd like to lose the ability to have children?"

"If only you would have done that a month ago." Jughead breathes. At the sound of the word children, the sixth plate slips from Jughead's slick grip and falls to the floor. "I gotta go."

Without another word he says goodbye and heads for the door, leaving Ronnie and Archi standing there, baffled and confused. He crosses the hall and forces his way into his and Betty's apartment. Grabbing two water bottles from the fridge he walks down to Betty's room and let's himself in, refusing to give her the option to turn him away.

All he can see of Betty is her blonde hair cascading over her floral pillow case. The rest of her body is consumed by her sheets and comforter. He can't hear her crying, so he takes that as a good sign. Leaving the bottled water on her night stand, he shuffles into her bed and under the covers. "Betty?" He rubs a shaky hand along her trembling back and pulls her body into him. "Betty… Baby everything is going to be OK."

Her head shakes back and forth against his chest and she begins to cry once more. "N-n-no its n-not." Betty's just barely able to choke out the words. "This wasn't s-supposed t-t-t-to happen. N-not this w-way. Not r-right now."

Jughead holds her against him, attempting to calm her woes by rubbing soft circles into her back. He leans down and presses his lips to her forehead. "Betts please stop crying. Maybe it's a false positive. That's likely, right?"

Betty sniffles and looks up at him. Her blue green eyes are bright and shiny, her cheeks are red and her lips are puffy and tender. In some sadistic way Jughead tells himself she's never looked more beautiful. "I g-guess so." She mumbles. She places a kiss along the edge of his chin and sighs, letting herself melt into his body. "What are we going to do?"

Jughead throws the blanket off of them and jumps to his feet. "It is…" he glances at Betty's clock on her nightstand. "…wow already 10 in the morning. Time travels fast when you're freaking out." Betty's lip begins to quiver once more. "We are going to eat lots of Captain Crunch, stay in our pajamas all day, and watch lots and lots of movies."

"I have to work this afternoon." Betty cries, grabbing the blankets and throwing them back over her, shielding herself from the outside world.

Jughead forces the blanket off of Betty. "Call in sick. Which, you technically are." Betty chews on her lip for a moment, finally nodding and deciding that was probably the best idea. She is no condition to go to work today.

"OK." She shuffles out of bed and grabs her bathrobe from the hook hanging on her door. "I'm going to go take a bubble bath. Maybe that'll help calm me down."

Jughead follows Betty out of her bedroom and kisses her lips softly before she disappears into the bathroom. He decides to ignore the fact that Betty still hasn't mentioned the 'I love you' he had confessed earlier that morning. He wasn't sure whether her ignorance on the subject was a good or bad sign.

꙰

Betty pulls up the 'Down in the Dumps' playlist on Spotify and slithers into the steaming water of the bathtub. The water is scalding on her skin, but Betty enjoys the sting, finding it surprisingly welcoming. She places a rolled up towel beneath her neck and closes her eyes, letting the music drown out the static in her brain.

She curses herself for being so unprepared and irresponsible. She should have gotten on the pill sooner or they should have used a condom. How could she have been so stupid? She should have warned Jughead that they weren't being safe, instead of allowing herself to swept up in the moment. She knew the pull-out method was not an effective form of birth control. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

In an effort to keep the tears at bay Betty opens up her eyes and examines her body beneath the water. Most of the bubbles have evaporated and the water is clear. She looks to her stomach and her breasts, imagining them swollen and expanded. Her body was the least of her worries, but it was still a worry nonetheless.

She remembers when her oldest sister Polly had given birth to twins back in high school. Suddenly Betty feels an obsessive need to talk to her, to tell her how sorry she is that she had to go through her pregnancy all alone, unable to confide in Betty about her problems because their parents were a special breed of crazy.

Betty reaches for her phone sitting on the floor beside the tub and pauses the current song. With quick fingers she dials Polly's number and counts the amount of rings it takes until she answers. When she does she can hear the twins laughing and giggling in the background and strangely Betty finds herself missing the little town she grew up in.

"Hi Betty!" Polly's cheery voice sings over the line.

"Hey Polly," Betty's voice cracks and she already regrets calling her sister. She doesn't need to burden her with her own problems. Plus she wasn't ready for this news to travel back to their mother in any way. Yet somehow Alice Cooper always found a way to figure out everything. It was like she was part of an underground network or something, it was creepy.

"Betty, is everything alright? Are you crying?"

Betty sits up in the tub and water splashes over the side. "It's nothing Poll. I shouldn't have called you." Her thumb hovers over the little red cancel button but Betty resists pressing it.

"It doesn't sound like nothing, come on, you know you can tell me anything." It frightens Betty how well her sister knows her. "Is this about Jughead?"

Betty clears her throat and answers. "No – I mean – yes. Sort of. I don't know."

"You are aware of the fact that nothing you're saying is making sense right now?" Polly asks with concern in her voice. Betty had always been the sensible one in the family.

"Polly, I-I don't know what to do." Betty mumbles into the phone. Her lips quiver and she urges herself not to cry. She already has a headache, she doesn't need to aggravate it any more than she already has.

"Just tell me what's going on Betty. You called for a reason. And you know me. I am the no judgement sister. Anything you say to me stays between you and I." Betty hears her nephew JJ in the background, asking if Polly will let them watch cartoons. From what she can only assume her sister agrees and walks out of the room and out of earshot of the children.

"Everything OK out there in Riverdale?" Betty asks.

"Just peachy. Can you believe the twins are going to be seven soon?" Betty can hear the smile in Polly's voice and Betty can't help but smile too. She misses her family so much.

"No I can't. Time sure does go by a lot faster now than when we were their age. Back then time seemed infinite."

"Nothing's infinite Betty, you know that. Just wait until you have kids and the time will fly by even faster than it is now. I promise you that." Betty's heart beats frantically in her chest at Polly's words. She had no idea. "Now please tell me what's bothering you. You know how I get when I worry."

Betty chuckles. "You sound like such a mom." Betty takes a deep breath and swallows the lump in her throat. "Speaking of moms…I'm going to be one. I'm pregnant."

The line goes silent and Betty worries that the call may have dropped. She removes the phone from her ear and checks to make sure Polly's still on the line. She closes her eyes in relief when she sees the call is still there.

"Oh my – Betty are you sure?"

Betty lifts her knees to her chest and rests her chin on her left knee. "I mean, I'm fairly certain. I haven't been keeping track of the calendar but I'm over a week late. And I was nauseous this morning. Although we did have drinks last night, but not enough to make me sick. Which now I'm also beginning to worry about - what if I hurt the baby, drinking last night because I didn't know?" With her free hand Betty digs her nails into the flesh of her palms. An old habit she'd had when she was younger that she'd kicked so many years ago.

"Betty Betty Betty. Slow down. Everything is going to be OK. Make an appointment with your doctor. Get checked up. They'll tell you everything you need to know. There's no reason to worry now. You're main focus should be making sure that you're healthy." Polly pauses and Betty's makes a mental note to call her doctor.

"Both you and Jughead both keep saying everything is going to be OK. How do you know that?" Betty cries into the phone, clutching it harder than necessary as she holds it up to her ear.

"Because I'm a mom, I know things. And don't shut Jughead out right now. I can guarantee he's as freaked out as you are. Go talk to him. Figure things out." On the other end Betty hears the sound of glass shattering. "Damn it not again. I'm sorry Betty I have to go. Call me if you need me. Keep me updated. And I promise not to say anything about this to mom."

Betty thanks her sister and wishes her a goodbye. Once the line is dead she places her phone on the lid of the toilet and pulls the plug in the tub. The water disappears around her, leaving her feeling cold and empty. Goosebumps litter her skin as she stands up and dries off with the towel from the rack, before placing her bathrobe around her and exiting the bathroom, in search of Jughead.

She finds him back in the kitchen with a new bowl of cereal in front of him, chomping down rather sullenly. He looks up when she enters the room and lends her a soft smile. "Feeling any better?"

Betty stands on her tiptoes to grab a bowl from the cupboards and a spoon from the drawer beside the fridge. At the sight of the cereal her stomach lurches, suddenly ravenous. "I called Polly."

Jughead nods and continues to chew. "Good to know. I thought maybe you were talking to yourself in there. I was a little worried for a moment, thinking you were going crazy."

Betty shoves his shoulder playfully and settles into the chair beside him. She creates a mountain of cereal in her bowl and floods it with milk, taking a bite of the sweet, crunchy cereal. "Ha ha." She says between bites. "You'd still love me even if I were crazy right?"

She hasn't forgotten about what he said to her, she'd just been too busy obsessing over the pregnancy test to really make any note of it.

Jughead places his spoon in the bowl and scoots his chair to the side so that he's facing her. He grabs her by the face, regardless of the fact she's still chewing and kisses her lips soundly. "If you're crazy Betty Cooper, then I'm fucking insane." He says, staring her dead in the eyes.

Betty is quick to swallow the cereal in her mouth and mirrors Jughead's actions. She holds his face between her hands and squishes his cheeks, just the way he was doing to her. "How are you not freaking out more right now?" She asks him, kissing him chastely.

"Because I love you, and I know that as long as we're together everything will be alright." He responds, leaning forward to kiss the tip of her nose.

Betty closes her eyes at the touch of his lips, and when she opens them she forgets to breathe. Forehead to forehead they sit there, gazing into each other's eyes as they hold each other's faces in place. Jughead's eyes are a brilliant swirl of blue and Betty swears she could look into them forever and never get bored. A thought crosses her mind where she hopes the baby has his eyes. She realizes there no one else she'd rather be caught up in this mess with except for him.

Betty kisses Jughead one more time, deeper than before and pulls away, hungry for her cereal. "By the way Jughead," She says with a mouth full of Captain Crunch. "I love you too."