Shout-Outs: Guest and Alana Lissens

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Rated: T

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Chapter 8

Summer had turned to autumn and Betty had almost finished her villa, so she and Jughead had both taken the day off to celebrate.

"I am going to turn in the second draft of my novel soon," Jughead told her as they peddled down a stone road. "I'll be out of your hair soon."

She almost skidded to a stop and fell off her bicycle when he said this. "So soon?" she asked, regaining her balance before he could even tell anything was amiss.

"So soon? I've already been here for a while," Jughead answered. "I'm sure you're sick of me and I have a few meetings in the United States. Stuff with the CW execs about turning my first novel into a television show and it's been forever since I've had a face-to-face with my editor and my agent."

"Of course," Betty replied. "It's not like I expected you to stay forever, Juggie. We both knew you'd only be here until you finished your manuscript."

"Listen, I'm still a week or two away from completing it and it's not like I'm never going to come back. Besides, I've gotten used to it here. There's going to be so much I'm going to miss, you couldn't pay to keep me away."

Betty kept her eyes on the road in front of her. "I guess it'll be hard to find a decent piece of authentic Italian pizza in New York City."

"Yes, I'll miss the pizza most of all," Jughead agreed, winking at her.

"You know you can always come back," Betty blurted out. "Whenever you want just say the word and I'll have the room ready for you."

"I am going to hold you to that," Jughead answered.

Betty bit her lip and braked. "Jughead, I-I don't know how to tell you how much I've enjoyed our time together. You've made the transition so much easier. . . maybe I wouldn't have handled moving here as well as I did without you."

Jughead stopped beside her and reached out to cover her hand with his. "Betty, you are so much stronger than even having me around. I am sure you would have done incredible things and settled in brilliantly without me. Enzio and everyone else here adores you. You don't need me! You're doing wonderfully on your own."

Betty still didn't know how to tell him that she might not need him with her but she wanted him there even though this was the perfect opportunity to do it.

She swallowed. "Maybe we should stop and find somewhere to eat. Are you getting hungry yet?"

Jughead nodded. "You know I could always eat."

They picnicked on the beach and talked about everything else besides their feelings for each other and home renovations and almost completed novels. Betty wanted to hold onto their last moments together and capture them forever. Just in case.

When the sky grew overcast, they packed up as quickly as possible to beat the storm home before it started. They'd just tossed their bicycles into the shed when there was a clap of thunder and the heavens opened up and it started to pour, drenching them in rain.

There wasn't any power when they got into the house, dim light was filtering through the windows. Jughead had removed his jacket and was running his fingers through his wet hair. Betty took a deep breath and threw caution to the wind, hoping he wouldn't reject her. Without thinking about it twice, she dropped her picnic basket on the floor and went over to him.

She touched his cheek. "Even after all these years, you're still so handsome."

Jughead smiled and caught her hand in his, kissed it. "After all these years, you've gotten even more beautiful. How is that possible?"

Betty kissed him on the mouth. After a beat, he kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. She thought that maybe she should say something. . . say anything, but Jughead was making it hard for her to string together a coherent thought which was a first.

When he kissed her, he usually gave her clarity.

"Jughead. . ." she breathed as he found her neck, desire pooling in her belly.

It had been so long since she'd kissed anybody, since she'd been with anybody. Jughead had been her last. If she was lucky, he'd be her first in a while.

He pushed her soaked cardigan off her shoulders and it fell to the floor with a plop. She held onto him tighter, let him take the lead. Whatever he wanted to do, she was going to allow him to do it. He found the zipper on her Dolce & Gabbana poplin, sundress and fumbled with it before getting it on the third try.

It fell to her ankles in a pool of poplin and she was standing in the entryway in nothing but her slip and flats. "Hold on a second," she said, untangling herself from Jughead's arms and stepping out of her dress, kicking her shoes aside before taking his white t-shirt off and adding it to the pile of clothes near her feet.

She smiled up at him uncertainly and he smiled in return then picked her up before giving her a searing kiss and whisking her off to his bedroom.

He laid her down on the bed, caressed her face and kissed her all over. Her cheeks, her forehead, her nose. . . her eyes. Her breath hitched in her throat, she was overcome with emotion.

Jughead noticed the change in her emotions. "Shhh," he whispered, brushing her hair away from her face and pulling her up to meet him. "C'mere." he hugged her. She buried her face in his chest and released a breath.

"Jug—"

She was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

"It's probably just Enzio," Jughead said. "What were you going to say? Go on, I'm listening."

The ringing doorbell persisted and Betty paused again. "I better go and see who's here," she said, standing up and darting across the hallway to her room to get her bathrobe, trying to steady her breathing.

Betty pulled on the long, Asian print robe and tied it before pulling her hair up and lighting a candle. She picked it up and went back to the entryway. She kicked the discarded clothes out of the way and then opened the door.

A pale, exhausted looking Veronica Lodge was standing on her front porch surrounded by suitcase and draped in black. When Veronica saw Betty, she collapsed into her arms and started to bawl.

"Betts?" Jughead asked, coming out to join them, fully clothed. "Who's here?"

"It's Ronnie," Betty answered, rubbing Veronica's back.

Jughead frowned when he noticed how upset Veronica was. "Ron, what's wrong? Where's Archie?"

"I-I-I c-c-came by myself," Veronica replied, avoiding looking at both Jughead and Betty.

"Are you two fighting?" Betty prodded gently.

"Did he kick you out?" Jughead added, pulling his phone out. "Because I'll call him right now and give him an earful."

"It's nothing like that," Veronica said, shaking her head as she let go of Betty and finally looked at them. "It's. . . it's just that. . . I don't even know how to tell you. How to say it."

"Did he cheat on you?" Betty asked. "Did you cheat on him?"

"No! Nobody cheated!" Veronica replied. "Can we please go inside? I don't know if either of you have noticed but it's raining out here."

"Oh! Of course! Come on in!" Betty said, putting her arm around Veronica.

"Juggie, could you please get my luggage?" Veronica called over her shoulder, swiping at her eyes.

"Sure," Jughead agreed.

"Put them in my bedroom," Betty told him. "She can sleep with me."

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"So, what brought you all the way over to Italy if it wasn't cheating or arguing? Does Archie not want to get engaged?" Betty asked as she uncorked a bottle of wine and poured a glass.

Veronica sniffed. "I don't know. . . I don't know how he really feels about anything right now to be honest. I kind of left New York in a hurry."

Betty frowned. "Veronica, what on earth are you talking about?"

Veronica blew some air out. "Well, you see Betts, I might be pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Betty repeated. "What did Archie say when you told him? Why did you fly here if you're pregnant? You know it isn't safe to fly in your first trimester."

"Archie doesn't know I'm pregnant," Veronica told her. "I left without telling him, okay?"

"Archie must be worried sick!" Betty said, realizing she was about to overfill her glass.

"I left him a note and told him that I was coming to see you," Veronica replied. "And there's a fifty percent chance that I'm not. So, there's a fifty percent chance Baby Lodge is fine. You worry too much, B."

Betty sighed and got some sparkling water for Veronica. "Are you hungry?"

Veronica shook her head. "Just tired, I feel like I could sleep for a year."

"You should eat something before you go to bed," Betty replied. "The power's out but I can give you some fruit or something. Jughead found a place that sells American snacks, I'm sure he'd spare some chips or Fruit Loops."

"I'm fine, really. I ate on the plane."

Betty sipped her wine. "Could I ask what you're trying to accomplish by running away from Archie? Especially since he doesn't know about the possible Lodge-Andrews baby?"

"I ran away before he could," Veronica explained. "What if he decided he didn't want it? Or the responsibility? Our lifestyle doesn't exactly have room for a child. What if he was okay with it but then it turned out that he really wasn't?"

"Why didn't you give him the opportunity to prove himself?" Betty asked. "I've known Archie my whole entire life and I know that he'll take responsibility for his actions, V."

"I ran for a second reason," Veronica admitted, lowering her voice so Jughead wouldn't hear her. "I wanted to see if Archie would follow me."

"I know Archie and I'm sure he's already booking flights and trying to get here right this very second," Jughead said as he came into the kitchen and poured a glass of seltzer water for himself. "You'll see everything will work out. Trust me, when you love somebody you'll follow them anywhere. Even to the ends of the earth."

"But I do think you need to take a pregnancy test," Betty added, ignoring Jughead's last statement even though her heart skipped a beat. "So you can tell him when he does show up and you need to be ready to have a serious talk about the future too. If you want to get married and have kids. About what you're going to do next. Lay it all out for him, tell him what you want."

Veronica sighed. "I never thought about it before. I know that I want Archie in my life. When I picture myself in thirty years, I see him with me. I can't imagine life without him but other than that, I don't know. . . I guess I want whatever keeping Archie with me entails. Even if it requires sacrifices."

Betty reached across the counter and squeezed her hand. "Then tell him."

Veronica nodded. "Okay. Now really, do you mind if I go and get ready for bed?"

"Go on," Betty answered. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

When Veronica was out of earshot, Jughead looked at her seriously. "Listen, Betts about earlier. . . I didn't mean to get carried away like that, it's a good thing Ronnie interrupted us when she did."

"I kissed you first," Betty reminded him, feeling her heart sink. "It wasn't like I was saying no."

"No," Jughead agreed, releasing a deep breath.

"Hey B, do you mind if I bathe?" Veronica interrupted, poking her head through the doorway.

"Of course not! Enzio just fixed the pipes, so everything should be working the way it's supposed to. Hold on, I'll come and show you how to run a bath," Betty replied, glancing at Jughead. "I have to go and take care of Ronnie. Maybe we can talk about it later?"

Jughead nodded slowly even though they both knew it probably wouldn't come up again. Not with all the drama that had started to unfold with Veronica's arrival.

But Betty couldn't help and hope that there would be a someday when they could talk about it and she'd be able to take her own advice and lay it all out bare for him.

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The Diary – September 22nd

Veronica Lodge had descended on Sogni D'Oro. How long she's going to stay will be determined by Archie's reaction to the reason she's sought sanctuary with me in the first place. I don't think she has anything to worry about though, Archie loves her. I am certain that he'll be here before the week is out and there will be a happy ending for them.

I'm not sure the same thing can be said for me and Jughead. We almost made love this afternoon but we were interrupted by the arrival of Veronica. Afterwards, we tried to talk about it and I honestly think he regrets it almost happened even though he didn't come right out and say it in so many words.

I know I still haven't told him how I feel. I still haven't asked him to stay. Sex without love doesn't work for Jughead. Of course it doesn't work for me either but I know how I feel. I'm not sure how he feels. He DID say something about following the person you love wherever they went. Even if it was to the ends of the earth.

Am I reading too much into the fact that he followed me to Italy? Am I putting a hidden meaning somewhere I shouldn't?

I wish I had the answers.

TBC. . .

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Author's Note:

There are two, maybe three more chapters left. I hope I didn't upset anybody too much with this chapter! Veronica coming to Italy with a pregnancy scare and interrupting them has been in the outline since the beginning. ANYWAYS. I'm posting a day early because it's Friday night and I don't have anything to do. I hope you'll tell me what you thought, I'll be back next week with the next chapter. It's already been written.

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love,

Holly, 9/22/2017