AN: Thank you guys! Pretty stoked people are reading. :) Once again, itsBeckChadwick, my Beta, does their best to try and not allow me to go off the deep end. With our powers combined, a chapter is produced! THANK YOU so much to you people who reviewed. I super appreciate all comments in review form. :) Enjoy!
Fred Andrews was still in surgery when Veronica tried convincing Archie to leave the hospital later that evening. All of them stood in the waiting room, the various shades and hues of blue popping out in every direction. All except Archie, anyway. He had collapsed into one of the many dark blue, plush waiting room chairs. His tall frame engulfed the navy furniture. Betty remembered reading that blue was supposed to be a calming color. None of them looked very calm, their hair in various levels of disarray from nerves, clothes wrinkled from sitting and standing and sitting again.
"Go home. Eat. Change. Rest," Veronica told the redhead but Archie shook his head.
"I can't go home right now. Not without dad. I don't even want to think about-" Archie took a breath, stopping himself from imagining the house he grew up in without his father. Betty didn't want to imagine it either. How often had she come over after school, Fred waiting and immediately inviting her to dinner? Every night. "I'm staying here tonight. Just in case."
The 'in case' hung in the air between the four of them. Betty shuddered, watching as Veronica cleared her throat and Jughead averted his eyes. None of them wanted to know what that meant. In case. Veronica looked uneasy, as if she did not know what to do next, as if she had never done this before. Betty guessed that she hadn't.
"Do I stay?" she whispered to Betty. The blonde shrugged her shoulders, equally at a loss. She wasn't sure what else could be done for Archie at this time of night. What time was it? Betty checked her phone: 9:30pm. Every one of them had school the next day, and they had already been with Archie since the morning.
"I don't want you guys to stay," Archie said emphatically, and Veronica exhaled loudly. Jughead frowned.
"You sure?" Jughead asked, his voice soft. Betty peered fondly at her boyfriend. She knew he would stay if Archie asked him. Heck, she knew that if Archie asked him to go to Greendale for a pack of gum right now, Jughead would do it in a heartbeat. Archie nodded at his best friend, smiling.
"Are we still hugging?" Archie asked as he stood, and Jughead grinned, pulling him into a giant bear hug. The embrace reminded Betty of the ones they all shared as children, before they grew up. Before Riverdale became the mess it was. Before Fred Andrews had to have surgery because of a bullet. Betty felt her eyes begin to water and her chest constricted. Just as the guys had a chance to break away, she threw herself on the two of them. They laughed, steadying themselves from falling over because of the sudden weight and both Archie and Jughead wound their arms around Betty's shoulders. She could feel Archie's shoulder pressed into her left cheek and Jughead's forehead on her ear. Just like old times.
"Room for one more?" Veronica asked and Betty immediately broke away to allow her the spot next to Archie. Veronica fit in amidst them as if she had always been there, hair brushing Archie's chin. None of them spoke as they embraced each other, but Betty could hear Archie sniffling. Jughead tightened his grip on the redhead. In case.
Betty and Jughead bid Veronica good luck on confronting her parents, as the three of them stood outside Riverdale Hospital.
"Are you are going to be ok?" Veronica asked Betty softly. Betty knew what she was talking about. They talked for quite a while about what happened at Veronica's apartment over those burgers. Betty finally showed Veronica her scars and she had reacted as any best friend should: extreme sympathy and apologizing for things she had no business apologizing for. Veronica revealed why she didn't want to be at the hospital with Archie. They had hugged and promised to never keep secrets from the other ever again. Who knows if either of them really meant it.
"Yeah. I'll be ok," Betty replied.
"Will you call me?"
"Of course I'll call you."
They hugged before Veronica waved goodbye and walked in the opposite direction of Betty's home. Jughead took Betty's hand, putting both of their hands in his jacket pocket to keep it warm as they made their way to the Cooper's residence. The snow on either side of their path shone in the moonlight, giving their trail a soft glow. They didn't talk, both not wanting to disturb the first moment of peace they've had all day. Betty could feel her heart swelling for Jughead in those moments: the moments that showed her that they could be quiet or share everything, that they could whip off each other's clothing or just hold each other, that they were able to depend on each other for everything. These were the moments that made Betty realize she had loved Jughead. Reaching the Cooper's, Jughead took Betty's hand from his pocket and kissed the knuckles.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Betty asked in a voice that feared waking her parents. Jughead lightly stroked her face with his other hand and she closed her eyes.
"I could come up if you want," he said, just as softly. Jughead let his forehead meet hers and they sighed together.
"My parents are here."
"Maybe through the window?" Betty couldn't help but smile.
"Mama Cooper might not be too keen on that."
"I honestly just want to hold you right now," he exhaled. "It's been such a shitty day. And this morning was..."
"Incredible." Betty grinned, recalling with him how they woke up in each other's' arms, half dressed and totally in love. Jughead placed both his hands on her lower back, pulling her towards him, foreheads still glued to one another. She let him.
"I want more of that."
"Me too."
"I don't want to talk to your parents right now."
"Me either."
"So... through the window?"
Betty had forgotten how difficult it was to break into her own bedroom. She had only ever done it once before, in Elementary school. Archie wanted to go to the train tracks to play around, and Betty's parents obviously didn't want her to join. She did it anyway, using the window to sneak out. When she tried sneaking back in, moving the latter back in place was difficult enough. Trying to open the window to her bedroom when she realized someone had locked it proved impossible. Betty had to try and sneak back in through the front door, and her mother spotted her. She was grounded for a month. Betty never tried to sneak in again, until now. Now, Betty had a handsome boyfriend who apparently knew how to jimmy locks on houses and windows. How or why he had this knowledge was not a subject of conversation. They merely slipped inside.
Jughead never looked like he belonged in Betty's very pink bedroom. His grey beanie, and black clothing tended to stand out amidst the girlie explosion that was the youngest Cooper's room. Betty rarely felt like she belonged there either, looking at the pink, the bedspread, the vanity and wondering briefly who they belonged to before recognizing them as her own. Betty opened her coat to hang it up before noticing Jughead was slowly opening and closing his fists.
"Here we are," he said, voice as low as possible. The last thing either one of them wanted was to be caught by Betty's mother. Betty took his nervous hands and intertwined them in hers.
"Yeah. Here we are."
She wasn't sure who made the first move but suddenly Betty Cooper's hand was under Jughead Jones's t-shirt, smiling as he groaned and clung to her neck and shoulders. Jughead had said he only wanted to hold her right now, but he certainly wasn't complaining in this moment. She told herself she just wanted to give him a proper thank you after helping with Veronica, but truthfully, she couldn't stop thinking about the brunette and how it felt to have his bare skin under her hands. True, it had only been about twenty-four hours since she had last touched him, but the itch was only growing stronger. Betty slid his beanie out of his hair and grasped at the locks found there. Jughead quickly slipped off his jacket to the floor.
His lips were on her neck and Betty could feel herself pulling him to her bed, her hands on his bare back lightly scratching the skin there. His hands were on her waist, then hips, his fingers clutching. They reached the bed and clumsily landed on top of it, Betty giggling slightly. She reached higher into his shirt before Jughead finally lifted his arms and the shirt came off. She tried tracing the muscles now exposed but Jughead's lips were on her neck again, his fingers stroking teasingly under the hem of her own shirt. Better gasped, closing her eyes.
"Betty," Jughead growled into her hair, causing Betty to moan.
Who knows how far they would have gone if they had hadn't been interrupted by a loud crashing happening above their heads. They both stopped when they heard it, looking up at the ceiling. The only thing above Betty's room was the attic. Another loud thud happened above them.
"Is that your parents?" Jughead asked, panting slightly. Betty herself was still trying to catch her breath.
"I don't know."
"Could someone be trying to break in?"
"Well, we did, so maybe it's not that hard."
The same thought occurred to the teenagers at the same time: they had to investigate. In that moment, the romance between them dissipated and Jughead put on his shirt and beanie quickly, both still staring at the ceiling. They were no longer Betty and Jughead, romantic partners; they were Betty and Jughead, mystery solving duo. They could hear someone yelling from above them. Betty grabbed Jughead's hand and slowly opened her bedroom door, peering left and right. No one was around, but the door to the attic was open. Betty used to hate being so near the stairs to the attic. She used to have nightmares when she was little about the door opening wide and quick, various monstrous creatures jumping out at her. She still hated going up to the attic, but it did not strike fear into her heart the way it did when she was little.
Betty was still holding Jughead's hands as they walked through the attic door, slowly climbing the stairs. They only went up a few steps before they could hear distinctly who was in the attic: Alice and Hal. The single light bulb above their heads shone brightly, almost blinding as the two eavesdropped on the conversation. They both shielded their eyes from the light.
"I can't believe you don't care about this," Betty's mother said, tearfully. From the sound of it, Alice was searching hurriedly through some boxes in the attic, throwing various objects to the attic floor.
"It'll all turn out fine," Hal said. "We can keep her safe."
"How safe is she going to be with that Jones boy? They were out all night together, Hal!" Alice continued her search, causing more crashes and thuds. Betty looked to Jughead, his eyes as wide as hers.
"You're going to break something, Alice."
"I would think you'd want me to break all these things." The sounds of thuds and crashes stopped, Alice's heavy breathing the only thing heard for a few moments.
"Maybe it's time you tell her what's going on? Why she shouldn't see him?" Hal asked softly. Betty's face showed confusion as she looked at Jughead. Jughead did not seem nearly as confused, but certainly no less distraught. Were her parents trying to break them up? "She already knows about your son. It won't be that bad."
"And when she finds out he's only her half brother?"
Betty gasped, much louder than she thought she would, instantly covering her mouth. Jughead looked at her in shock, knowing what Betty knew: they'd just been caught. Alice and Hal's conversation stopped. The sound of footsteps began.
"Is there someone there?" Alice asked tentatively. Betty looked at Jughead and mouthed a single word: Run. She knew that catching Betty eavesdropping would not be great but catching the two of them? After her parents seemed so intent on breaking them up? This would be even worse. Jughead seemed to be thinking the same thing, lifting the hand he was still holding and kissing it before fleeing the scene as quietly as possible. The footsteps came closer and closer, until finally Alice's head appeared.
"Betty?!" Betty smiled weakly.
"Hi, Mom."
AN: All who review are my favorites! :)