Shout-Outs: Promise.14, Alana Lissens and aussiebornwriter

Rated: T

Disclaimer: Firstly, I don't know what this is and secondly, I don't own anything.

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Chapter 4

"Jughead, Jughead wake up!" Betty whispered, shaking him a little bit.

"Wha-What are you doing?" Jughead asked. "Why are you waking me up?"

"You need to start getting adjusted to the new time zone," Betty answered, shaking him again. "Come on, get out of bed!"

"I was up late trying to write," Jughead told her, rolling on his back so she could see he was glaring. "Except I'm still feeling totally uninspired. Maybe this book wasn't meant to be after all."

"You've barely been here 24 hours! Put that defeatist attitude away right now and come have some breakfast! We're going shopping!"

"Shopping?" Jughead repeated. "Why are we going shopping?"

"Because Isabelle says I need some vision in what I want to do with this place!" Betty replied.

"You need a vision for this place?" Jughead asked. "You're still working on the outside!"

"I'm turning my attention on the inside of the villa while I let Ezio and his men focus on the landscaping."

"Have fun shopping," Jughead said, pulling his blankets over his head.

"You know, sitting around here isn't going to do anything for your inspiration! And if I do recall correctly, you're the one who told me that I had to explore Italy. Well, it's your home now too! So, I think it applies to you as well." Betty replied, pulling the covers off.

Jughead groaned he was going to give into her. He always did. "Did you make breakfast?" he asked.

"We're going out! There's this little place in town that serves the best coffee! The cappuccinos are to die for!"

Jughead opened one eye. "Did you say that there's coffee?"

"Yes!" Betty confirmed. "And they have pastries."

"Okay but we're going to need to find a place that serves a bigger breakfast," Jughead said as he sat up and stretched.

"They don't really serve big breakfasts in Italy," Betty told him, suddenly very aware that he wasn't wearing a shirt. She averted her eyes. "Lunch is the most important meal of the day here. But you can eat pastries until your heart's content, if you'd like and we can stop by a market so I can get some food to make a big breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Betts, you are too good to me!" Jughead said as he tugged on a wrinkled, white linen shirt.

Betty cleared her throat. "How about I just go and iron that for you while you brush your teeth and stuff?"

Jughead looked down at his shirt and then shrugged. "Okay, sure!" he agreed, pulling it off and handing it over to her.

"I'll have this back to you in a jiff," Betty promised, almost tripping over her feet as she turned to leave.

She mentally berated herself for getting so flustered at the sight of seeing him shirtless. She was not some fangirl groupie who did "J.J" watches and posted candids of him drinking coffee or surfing or coming out of the gym to her Instagram account.

AND they had been together for most of their lives. She had seen him without anything on countless amounts of times. Besides, she was over him, their history was as ancient as Italy's, so there was no need to swoon at the sight of him.

None at all.

She went to the kitchen and plugged in the iron, finding satisfaction in smoothing the wrinkles out of his shirt, it was almost therapeutic. She was so lost in the task at hand that she hardly noticed Enzio until he knocked on the glass window and smiled widely at her.

"Enzio!" She scolded as she put the iron down and opened the window. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"I am sorry, Signora!" Enzio answered, not looking the least bit sorry as he leaned against the wooden ledge. "What are you doing? Not staying around here to help out around the land?"

"Not today. I'm going to do some shopping for the house though. I want to have an idea of what I'd like to do when the time comes."

"Okie!" Enzio said, looking at the shirt in her hands, his eyes lit up. "Is Signore Jones going with you?"

"Yes," Betty replied. "But just so he can see some of the sights. And so you'll leave him alone!"

Enzio looked at her with indignation. "I do not know what you are implying but I know I do not like it!"

"You're so melodramatic," Betty told him. "You need to go and get to work. Maybe I'll see you when we get back."

"It would be a stormy day if I did not get to see you," Enzio answered, taking her hand in his and kissing it.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Jughead asked teasingly as he came into the kitchen looking for his shirt.

Enzio shook his head and smirked. "No but maybe I should leave the two alone!"

Betty turned scarlet. "Enzio!" she groaned.

Enzio just giggled and practically scampered off like a teenage girl frolicking with her boyfriend in a field of wildflowers.

Betty looked at Jughead. "Sorry about that. I'm pretty sure if he knew what shipping was, he'd be writing fanfiction about us or running a Bughead blog or something."

"Bughead?" Jughead repeated as he took the shirt from her and slipped it on. "What the hell is a Bughead!?"

Betty flushed even redder. "Um, never mind. Are you ready to go now?"

"Just about," Jughead answered, buttoning up. "I just need to go and get my camera and my notebook, in case inspiration strikes while we're away."

"Why would you need your camera in case inspiration strikes?" Betty asked as she found her shoes and put them on.

"The camera is so I can be devastatingly aesthetic on Instagram," Jughead said. "Maybe we can even tease a few of my hardcore fangirls with some black & white shots of you."

"Are you trying to make them jealous or suspicious?" Betty teased.

"Suspicious, definitely suspicious. Archie and Veronica stalk the fans boards and the comments then tell me what everybody says about me. One girl is convinced I am asexual because nobody's ever really seen me with a significant other."

Betty nodded, she wasn't ignorant to the discord that revolved around Jughead but she didn't want to spend her morning talking about it either. "Come on," she said. "Let's get going! We've got lots to do!"

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Jughead mostly trailed Betty while she went in and out of stores. He offered input when she asked for it but she could tell that was mostly caught up in his head or taking pictures of his surroundings, so she left him to his own devices while she continued to look for interesting things alone.

Not that her villa needed much help, it already had a treasure trove of wonderful art and knick-knacks to choose from. She just wanted to make some of it her own with pieces she loved and had chosen by herself.

"So, what are your plans for this place?" Jughead asked when he caught up with her a little while later.

Betty immediately started to tell him about her plans for Friday night movies with a star of the month and libraries and wine and cheese lunches. It was the first time she had really told anybody about it aside from Luca and she was happy to have somebody to share her dream with.

"If you're looking for an artist in residence, I'd be happy to do the job," Jughead told her jokingly.

"Everybody would flock from all over the world just to get to talk to you at dinner," Betty replied, smiling at him.

Her heart squeezed a little bit as she had a vision of the two of them running a successful B&B together. She had such a clear image of him in her head, mentoring young writers and working on his novels in a sunny nook in the corner of her kitchen while she made bigger breakfasts for her more American-minded guests and prepared lighter options for the ones who wanted a true Italian experience.

She imagined asking him to stay and what his answer would be then shook her head, chasing it away.

Betty threaded her arm through Jughead's. "Come on," she said. "Let's go buy some groceries."

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The Diary - June 24th

I close my eyes and get lost in a daydream where Jughead and I could be an "us" again. I think it's his being here because otherwise, I wouldn't think about him in that way.

I am a strong independent woman. I need to write that out one hundred times, until it sinks in.

I can't let him in again.

Not when I'm not sure that he wants the same thing as I do.

He'll finish his novel and then he'll be gone. I can't let myself get involved.

I'm not sure I have enough heart left for it to be broken again.

TBC. . .

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Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay in updating, I've had company the last 10 days and I've only been able to write in snatches. This chapter is definitely just filler but I am going on vacation on Saturday, so I am hoping to get a lot of writing done while I'm away. Chapters with lots of plot development.

I'll see you when I get back. Hope you'll leave me some of your thoughts in the meantime!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

Holly, 7/27/2017