"Dude." Sweet Pea muttered, his boot making a scuffled sound against the pavement as he kicked the sidewalk. "You are so fucking whipped."
Jughead fixed him with a glare strong enough to make his long time friend think twice about uttering another word. He was not whipped.
No.
He was helping his...
A...
He didn't even know what to call her anymore.
She was his childhood best friend, the only girl he had ever shown even the slightest amount of interest in, not that Betty had ever noticed. She was someone he would always care about, no matter what happened.
She was the one person in the world he would have done anything for.
Which was why he, and several other Serpents, were currently outside Ms. Grundy's home again, safely hidden from view as they waited for the music teacher to return from the game. He'd only received one text from Toni, confirming that Betty was indeed at Cheryl's humble abode, finally out of his way.
Jughead regretted the thought the second it came to mind.
He didn't want to keep Betty in the dark, it nearly killed him to. What he really, truly wanted was for them to be a team, even if it meant getting into the stickiest of situations, just for them to be a duo again, but seeing her reaction to the photos of Chuck, his hand wrapped around Ms. Grundy's throat, the way she had crumpled to the ground, tears pricking her eyes, Betty Cooper never cried, had sent his urge to protect her, to shield her from everything and everything, into overdrive.
Which was why he had been avoiding her since the night he'd walked her home, too afraid that she would somehow uncover his plot to rid Riverdale of its only music teacher and insist on trying to help.
He didn't want her anywhere near this.
He wouldn't let her anywhere near it.
So he would do all the dirty work, with the help of his always loyal Serpents, and if he had to, he would be the bad guy, he would take the blame.
He would protect Betty, no matter what.
"Jug." Fangs muttered, nodding to the approaching headlights.
The Cougar was finally home.
Betty hissed in pain before Cheryl could even ask if her knuckles hurt.
"It doesn't look broken, B." She offered unhelpfully. "But it's pretty swollen."
"I can see that, Cher." Betty replied, her teeth clenched.
"Move." Toni commanded, gently pushing the River Vixen captin aside, her fingers locking around Betty's wrist as she inspected the damage. She brushed a cool, quick thumb across Betty's fist, causing her to wince.
Veronica caught hold of her uninjured hand, squeezing softly.
"I can't believe you did that." She muttered.
Betty cast her a glance. "He insulted you. What was I supposed to do?"
"Let one of the guys handle it?" Cheryl suggested.
Veronica's eyes looked wary, like she wasn't sure whose side she should have been on. "Walk away?"
"Learn to throw a punch?" Toni released her grip on Betty's arm. "Nothing's broken, by the way, but you're gonna have a nice bruise by the looks of it."
"I like your idea." Betty told her.
"I'll show you." She volunteered.
"Oh, I don't think so." Cheryl piped in, standing up. "I don't want this to be a repeat performance. Bad Ass Betty doesn't really suit you, B, I much prefer our sweet little journalist."
She meant she wanted the girl who didn't push back, who didn't ask questions, and who certainly didn't go around taking shots at someone who was supposed to be a good friend of hers.
Really, she wasn't sure what had come over her tonight.
As angry as she still was at Veronica, for insulting Toni, even for her unleashed vengeance against Jughead, an occurrence she'd thought she was over until now, but no one, especially not her asshole of an ex, insulted her best friend. Ever.
"Come on, Vixens." Cheryl ordered, starting towards the grand staircase. "There's ice in the freezer, B, hurry up."
Veronica hesitated in following, and then, suddenly, the raven haired girl's arms were wrapped around her in an almost too tight embrace.
"I like Bad Ass Betty." She muttered. "And I love you."
"I love you too, V."
The moment her best friend disappeared around the corner, Toni offered her a wink.
"I know someone else who would love Bad Ass Betty." She teased.
A very noticeable blush rose to her cheeks.
"W-What's going on?" She cried, her voice muffled by the sack pulled over her head.
Jughead rolled his eyes.
He wasn't like Fangs or Sweet Pea, who enjoyed the riskier mission, the very reason he suspected they had come along with him, other than to prove their loyalty. Jughead liked being a Serpent, he liked holding a high degree of power, but violence was never his style, no matter how good he was at it.
He didn't want to hurt Grundy, only startle her enough to make her leave town, to keep her away from Archie, and in turn, Betty. Growing bored of her pleading and begging, Jughead gave a curt nod to the Serpent on his left, signaling him to stalk forward to free Ms. Grundy from the burlap he'd yanked over her head only twenty minutes before.
"W-What's going on?" The teacher echoed, blinking as her eyes tried to adjust to the bright headlights of the motorcycles that surrounded her. "Where are we?"
"We're in Greendale." Jughead deadpanned, already bored. "Your new home."
She scowled at him. "Young man-"
"Quiet!" Sweet Pea barked, always his right hand man.
Ms. Grundy's lips formed a thin line. "You can't just bring me here and expect me to-"
"Actually." He replied, crouching down beside her. "I can."
When she shrank back in fear, he rolled his eyes. Weaker women than her hadn't submitted to their fear so early in the conversation.
"Frankly, Grundy." Jughead sneered. "I don't care where you go, or what you do, but you're not going to stay in Riverdale, and you're sure as hell not going to go near Archie Andrews again."
A knowing look crossed her face.
"Archie?" She repeated warily. "That's why you're here? That is none of your-"
"I'm making it my business." He hissed, and he was. The thought of Archie with a teacher disgusted him, secretly making him seethe.
Archie had always been one of the smartest people he knew, and Jughead would be damned if he let him former friend make such a monumental mistake.
Perhaps he wasn't just doing this for the girl next door.
"Did Archie's stupid little friend put you up to this?" Ms. Grundy demanded. "Betty Cooper needs to learn to keep her mouth shut."
Jughead's jaw tightened, his nostrils flaring.
"Okay, B." A Vixen drew out. "Truth or Dare?"
Betty sighed. This game, especially when played by her immediate circle of friends, never ended well.
At a party the previous year, she had been dared to break into Riverdale High in the middle of the night to give their precious statue a little makeover. With Jason, Reggie and Veronica at her side, Moose, Kevin, Archie and Cheryl keeping watch, they had set off an alarm. She could still feel Jason gripping her arm, yanking her along behind him. They had all been forced to split up, feeling that it was safer as the police sirens began to wail.
Jason had taken her to the edge of Sweet Water River. How could she have forgotten that?
I know what happened.
"B?"
"Um..." She pretended to think. "Truth?"
The girl grinned evilly, scarily mimicking Cheryl was she was in her cruelest of moods. "What's going on between you and that Serpent freak?"
Betty's nails dug into the palm of her hand.
Toni glowered at her. "Who are you calling a freak?"
"Savannah." Cheryl warned, ice dripping from her tone. "Shut up."
Betty couldn't believe it.
She was actually defending Toni.
And then, she realized, Savannah hadn't been talking about Toni at all.
"Jughead." She corrected, her lips forming a thin line. "His name is Jughead."
Savannah remained determined, despite Cheryl's deathly glare that could stop even the toughest of girls in their tracks. "Fine, whatever, what's going on between you and Jughead?"
"N-Nothing..."
"You have to tell the truth, B."
"Leave her alone, Sav." Veronica commanded.
"She has to tell the truth." She shot back. "C'mon, B, spill. Is there anything you wanna tell us?"
Veronica turned to Cheryl. "Why is she here?"
The River Vixen captain let her shoulders drop in a shrug.
She should have picked dare.
How could she possibly answer that question truthfully when she didn't know what the truth was herself?
Jughead shoved the woman, hard enough to send her trembling form several feet backwards.
"Keep her fucking name out of your mouth." He hissed.
Whatever desire he'd had to defend Archie was gone, completely over masked by his desire to protect his golden haired girl.
"You're Serpents." Grundy accused, tears filling her eyes.
Fangs suddenly darted forward, so used to having to defend their name. Jughead extended his arm to halt him.
"That's right, Cougar." He taunted, a grin gracing his lips at the thought of all the nicknames Toni had come up with for the teacher over the last week. "We're Serpents, and I think you know exactly what that means."
She didn't answer, her gaze glued to the ground.
Jughead smirked.
Their reputation indeed preceded them, it got the job done.
"Here's what's going to happen." He hissed. "You're going to leave Riverdale. Tonight. You're going to hire someone to clear out your house, you're going to quit your job, and you're not going to come back. Ever."
She managed a watery laugh. "Who's going to stop me? You?"
A frown etched across his features.
This woman had no idea what he was capable of.
But, he was doing this for Betty, Archie too, and he highly doubted either of them would approve of some of his previous actions when it came to getting what he wanted.
"It's either Greendale or jail, bitch." Jughead sneered.
Grundy carefully raised her gaze to meet his own, her eyes widening.
"J-Jail?" She gasped.
"Jail." He confirmed, smirking again. "I wonder how Riverdale would react to a teacher seducing not one, but two of her students."
The teacher let a single tear slide down her cheek. He felt absolutely no sympathy towards her.
"The way I see it." He pulled his pack of cigarettes from his pocket, cupping his hand over the flame as he lit one and took a long drag. "Either you save your reputation, leave Riverdale, and never come near Archie, or Betty again, or you stay, and keep trying to seduce my boy, and try and go after my girl with the knowledge that I will be coming to end you, bitch."
"Betty."
She stirred, but didn't open her eyes, wanting nothing more than to return to her dream. It was just like old times, sitting in a booth at Pop's, Jughead across from her, eyes glued to his laptop. Every so often, his gaze would find hers, and he would smirk, the way he used to, without all the smugness behind it.
They could read one another's minds.
"Betty." They repeated, a little more firmly this time.
"Hmm." She responded. "Juggie."
"Betty!" Toni whispered, catching hold of her uninjured wrist. "Come on, Blondie, wake up."
Betty reluctantly relented, cracking a single eyelid to gaze at the girl.
Toni was leaning over Veronica's passed out form, still clasping her arm, her eyes filled with amusement.
"What were you dreaming about?" She asked, a small smile gracing her lips.
"I..." She shook her head, her pony tail swinging. "I don't know. What's going on?"
"Come with me." Toni said, her grip slipping down until she caught hold of Betty's hand, their fingers interlacing. "Hurry."
Slipping out of her sleeping bag, she allowed her hair to fall into tangled curls across her shoulders. She pulled a cardigan over her purple pajama top and tucked her black and purple checkered pajama bottoms into her black slipper UGG boots before she let Toni pull her from the room, her oblivious teammates still sound asleep.
"Where are we going?" She hissed.
Toni didn't answer, tugging her down the grand staircase and out the front door, the cool, crisp air hitting her cheeks.
"Toni?"
But then, she spotted him, parked across the street.
He was leaning against his motorcycle, wearing his ever present leather jacket, a long sleeved flannel looped around his waist in a double knot. His arms were crossed, shoulders hunched as if trying to protect himself from the cold.
An unreadable expression flashed across his face when he saw her.
He took in her current state, hair messily framing her face, clad in only her girly sleepwear, and a light sweater, his lips twitching as a grin threatened to escape.
"Jug?" Betty questioned.
"Hey Betts." He answered, nonchalance dripping from his tone.
"Um... What's up?"
She wasn't sure why she suddenly felt so nervous around him. Usually, Jughead was the only one who could calm her, even in the worse of situations. He smirked at her stuttered words, and she hated the smugness behind it. That was not her Jughead.
Not that he had ever been hers to begin with, of course.
"You okay?" Jughead asked, with faux innocence.
Did he know that he had such an affect on her?
By the way he was looking at her, brows arched, amusement and smugness laced through his features, he had to have known, but he didn't comment on it, perhaps not wanting to push the limits any further when they were not alone.
"It's done, Betts." He told her, and she knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Juggie..." She began.
"She's gone." Jughead promised. "She won't be coming back."
Betty's eyes widened. "Did you-"
"No." He hissed, now sounding irritated.
She wouldn't ask him that again.
She knew Jughead, whether he wanted to admit that or not, there was not a truly violent bone in his body.
"She's really gone?"
"Yep." He replied, popping the p. "It's over, Cooper, Grundy won't be a problem anymore."
"What did you..."
"Don't worry about it."
"Juggie..."
"Fuck, Betts, I said don't worry about it." Jughead snapped, raking a hand through his hair. He wasn't wearing his beanie for once. "I took care of it. The less you know, the better."
Betty took a hesitant step back, wincing at his tone. His brows furrowed at the movement, and he seemed to snap back to reality in an instant.
She understood immediately.
He hadn't meant to startle her.
"What if she does come back?" Betty heard herself ask.
"She won't."
"Jughead-"
"Shit, Betts, then I'll take care of that too." Jughead sneered. "I don't want you taking any credit for this, do you understand me? If anyone asks, if anyone comes after you, even Archie, I want you to say it was my idea."
There he went again, protecting her from some unseen force.
"Juggie..."
"Promise me, Betts."
He wasn't asking her, he was telling her, ordering her to lie, commanding that she place all the blame on him.
"Betty."
"Okay." She said.
"Say it, Cooper."
"I promise." She reluctantly spit out.
Jughead looked visibly relieved.
"Juggie?"
"What?"
Without even thinking about it, Betty rushed towards him, slipping her hands into his leather jacket to wind her arms around his torso. The scent of gasoline, leather, cigarettes, aftershave and cologne, reminding her of the night he'd carried her, was oddly comforting, or maybe it was just him, maybe she just needed him, his touch, his presence.
Maybe she just missed him.
It took him a moment to awkwardly fold her into a hug, his jacket almost closing around her, the dark leather holding them both.
She wondered how long it had been since he'd embraced anyone else, but he relaxed suddenly, his hand making familiar, soothing circles across her back while his other arm slipped across her shoulders, pulling her close.
"Thank you." She whispered.
Jughead pushed her back slightly, his eyes searching her face.
"Any time." He muttered.
And then, for reasons even she didn't understand, Betty stood on her tiptoes, pressing a quick kiss to his stubbly cheek.
He looked stunned when they separated again, but in typical Jughead fashion, he recovered quickly, his smirk smugger than she had ever seen.
"You're good." Betty admitted. "Juggie... Please tell me that you still write."
Toni seemed surprised by the statement.
"You write too?" She demanded.
Jughead groaned, raking a hand through his hair.
"Thanks a lot, Betts." He grumbled, pinching her waist.
She giggled, pressing her palm over her mouth to try and conceal the sound. The last thing she needed was for the rest of the girls to wake up and discover she was gone, and with Jughead no less. She had yet to answer Savannah's question, accusation really, about what was going on between the pair.
Were they friends again?
Acquaintances who still cared about one another?
They certainly weren't strangers. Not anymore.
"Yes, I still write." His voice broke her from her thoughts. "Why?"
"Huh?"
He raised an eye brow at her dazed expression. "Why do you want to know, Cooper?"
"Because..." Betty drew out, awkwardly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I could really use some help at the Blue and Gold."
Jughead blinked, processing her words.
"What, seriously?"
She nodded, bringing a hand up to push the hair from her face.
His eyes zeroed in on her bruised knuckles, and in a flash, his fingers were locked around her wrist in a vice grip, staring down at the black and blue marks.
"Who did this to you?" He hissed, his tone dark. Dangerous.
"It was my fault." Betty defended, trying and failing to free her arm. "I... Well... I might have..."
"She decked that raven haired ass hat." Toni interjected.
He almost looked amused. "Who, Reggie?"
She nodded again.
"Why?"
"He called Veronica a bitch."
"Damn." Jughead mumbled, brushing a thumb across her aching skin. His touch soothed her again. "You can't go around hitting your friends, Betts."
"Maybe I need new friends." She replied.
He cocked an eye brow at her ambiguous response.
"So, what do you say?"
"You shouldn't tuck your thumb in." He instructed. "You could have broken your hand, Cooper."
"Jug." Betty shook her head in faux amusement, disapproval dripping from her tone. "Not about that."
"I don't think you should be friends with Reggie either."
"Jug."
"No one wants to read an article about Cheryl Blossom's nighttime routine, Betts."
"How did you even..." Her eyes narrowed at the sight of his signature smirk. "Jug! Come on!"
"Okay, okay." He said with a laugh. "I'll help you with the Blue and Gold, Betts, on one condition."
"Toni becomes the photographer." Betty finished.
"Toni becomes the..." It was his turn to trail off, his grip against her arm tightening slightly. "Betty..."
She smiled up at him. "I know you, Jughead Jones."
"Oh really?" Jughead challenged. "What's my favorite color?"
"Black." She answered easily. "Like your soul. Also the way you take your coffee."
"Betty."
"You love anything by Quentin Tarantino." Betty recited. "You've been listening to Metallica since we were eight, you've worn that beanie for as long as I could remember."
"Betty." He warned again, sounding both amused and cautious.
So many memories came flooding back to her.
Suddenly, she wanted to tease him, she wanted to prove to him that she would always know him, no matter how much time they spent apart.
"You used to carry around Hot Dog all the time-Mmmph!"
Jughead yanked her towards him easily, her back pressed up against his chest as his hand smacked over her mouth, effectively cutting off her speech.
"Hot Dog?" Toni demanded, her eyes dancing at the new information. "Who's Hot Dog?"
"Nothing!" Jughead snapped, his arm hooking around her neck, anchoring her to him. "No one. Elizabeth Cooper, not another word."
"She knows you."
"Apparently." He responded.
Betty grinned under his hand.
"Interesting." Toni mused. "Very interesting."