These last thirty-six hours had been both the some of the best and worst Jughead Jones has lived through.

Hour One

"Did you have anything to do with the Twilight fire?" Jughead asks his dad, the feel of Betty's hand on his back for support keeping him steady.

"What? Jug, no, of course not," his dad replies to him, "and I know you know what I admitted to already."

Jughead contemplates his dad's face, the tells he has when he's lying. He doesn't even know why he's at the trailer, he just needed to ask him for himself, to make his own decision on what to believe. Technically, he's not even his dad's problem anymore, not that he ever seemed to be a consideration in the first place. Living with the Andrews, even for the short time he's been there, has shown him that some parents are meant to parent. And some parents can love you, they can love you the best way they know how and you'll still always fall with no net under you.

Or, in the case of Betty, they can love you until you suffocate. Until you choke on the expectations that have you by the throat while they scream your inadequacies at you.

Archie, Jughead has decided, has the most normal parents by far. And he's grateful for them at the moment.

He looks him in the eye one last time. "Okay."

His dad slowly nods at him, seeing what he also needed to see, he supposes.

"Juggie, come on, it's getting late, we need to get home," Betty softly tells him, taking his hand to lead him out of the trailer. "See you later, Mr. Jones."

"Bye, Dad," he calls out as he turns to leave with Betty.

He hears his dad say goodnight to them both but he's already distracted. Far enough away from the trailer to not be overheard he hears Betty ask, "Do you believe him?"

"I do," he nods. "Do you?"

She looks at him with soft eyes and reaches to hold the sides of his face. "I believe you, Jughead."

He looks at her and she's lit up by the spotlight that's lit near the trailer and the moonlight and he can't help himself as he mirrors her actions, gently pulling her forward to press his lips to hers. Her lips are still warm, even in the cooler air of the night, and feel smooth and soft against his. He can't help but take her lower lip between his as he pulls her a little tighter against himself.

Jughead knows that this belief in him, the idea that she's going to be on his side when he needs someone to pick a side without question flips his stomach and he knows.

This is what being in love feels like.

She steps back from him first, smiling at him like she's the lucky one in their relationship. "We better get going, I don't want Hurricane Alice coming down on me anymore than she already is."

He grins at her, taking her hand and leading her out of Sunnyside.

Hour Ten

"Jug, get up, man," he hears Archie say to him in a bleary tone. A morning person, Jughead is not.

He grunts back at Archie, probably incoherently before he mumbles what he thinks might be words. "Mmphf, go 'way, Arch."

"Yeah, okay. Though my mom is probably making breakfast and then Betty's going to be here to walk to school, but I'll tell them you need more sleep."

"Jerk," he tells Archie, knowing he's going to get up. Using food and Betty as bait is too effective. He needs to build up some sort of believable immunity. Pipe dreams are nice, he thinks as he rolls out of his bed and onto the floor. Before he can get up, he gives in to the lure of the floor and grabs his pillow off the air mattress and cuddles it so he can get five more minutes of sleep.

Hour Ten and Three Quarters

"Now you're going to be late and hungry, Jug," he hears Archie tell him as he lightly nudges his leg with his shoe to make sure he's still alive.

"I'm awake, Archie. I'm the most awake person to ever be awoke," he responds into the sweet comfortable fluff of his newly decided best friend, the pillow. "What time is it?"

"A quarter to seven, dude," Archie says.

Jughead processes this and jumps up. "Why didn't you wake me up, earlier? We're going to be late!" He hears Archie let out a groan of frustration as he grabs some clothes and runs into the bathroom.

Hour Sixteen

"Hey, Betty, do you think I can play a couple songs at the dance, I kind of told my mom-" Jughead sees Archie make a face in response to the face Betty made and he struggles not to laugh. "Whoa, do you not want me to?"

"It's not that, Arch," Betty starts, "it's just that this dance needs to be...fun. And your songs, as amazing as they are, they-"

"They make you want to slit your wrists," Jughead interrupts, trying to save her from the guilt of inadvertently insulting Archie's music. "In a good way."

"In an amazing way," Veronica interjects and Jughead perks up at that, seeing Veronica come to his defense like that makes him think he should start his own betting pool, the Veronica and Archie Edition.

He hears her add something about singing covers and he knows it's a lie, everyone knows it's a lie but no one calls her out on it, if she wants to save Archie's act, then good for her.

Hour Twenty

Jughead is pulling Betty out of the gym she's been decorating for the dance, heading toward the Blue and Gold office, telling her he has something important to show her. "Come on, Betts."

She's letting him tug on her hand, a little startled at his urgency but following him anyway.

As he leads her through the door and he closes it behind her she asks him, "What's so important, Jug?"

Jughead pushes her back until the back of her thighs bump the edge of a desk and he's putting one hand on her hip and one into the back of her hair, under her ponytail bringing her closer to him to kiss her and the soft moan she lets out against his lips spurs him further and he moves his arms around her waist and picks her up a little and sets her on the desk and moves between her thighs as she gasps in surprise.

Both his hands climb up and under the back of her sweater, the soft skin of her back tracing her spine until she lets out a breathy murmur of, "Oh my god, Jug, what's gotten into you?"

He mouths along her jawline until he reaches her ear to whisper, "Today was good, needed to make it better."

Betty's head falls back as he makes his way down the side of her neck and he can feel her fingers grasping onto the suspenders hanging off of his hips and tugging at them to bring him closer to her. He brings a hand to pull on the neckline of her sweater so he can edge his tongue across her collarbone as she's moving her hands into the back of his hair, knocking his hat to the ground, she wraps her legs around his thighs, locking her ankles to keep him in place.

Pushing the bottom of her sweater up to move his fingertips along her rib cage, his other hand slides to the back of her neck, chasing her lips with his as her fingers curl tighter into his hair. He's pushing his hips forward into hers and letting out a small groan, both of them lost in their own world.

He doesn't hear the door open but he does hear the yell of, "Oh my god!" from who he thinks is Veronica.

It's unfortunate that both Kevin and Archie are standing right behind her. He can practically feel the heat from Betty's cheeks, he knows she's horrified.

It occurs to him then.

He can't move. And he can't think of what sort of protocol there is when your friends catch you making out -and more- with your incredibly hot girlfriend.

Looking slightly over his shoulder he's still got nothing so he says the first thing that comes to mind. "Uh, hey?"

Betty's face is buried in his shoulder, pulling her sweater down and letting her legs fall from around his legs. She's whimpering what sounds like prayers to a deity but he can barely hear her over the sound of his heart pounding, the now painful ache he's now prisoner to, and the delighted giggles of Veronica and Kevin. At least Archie is avoiding eye contact with them.

"I knew there wasn't a creepy bald spot under that hat!" Veronica crowed, pointing at his hair.

His hat. Where was his hat?

"Holy shit, Jughead, no wonder Betty lets you feel her up if that's the hair you're sporting under there," Kevin tells him, looking smugly satisfied. "I hate you."

He feels Betty's head come off of his shoulder so he turns his head to look at her with a smirk. "Is that true? Is it my hair that does it for you?"

"No, of course not. But, to be fair, it doesn't hurt," Betty replies. Neither have moved from their spot and it's not long before their audience catches on.

"Got a problem, Jughead?" Veronica asks, amused.

"You can go now," he tells them. "Bye."

Archie starts to herd the other two out of the door and he can swear he heard him mumbling about best friends and didn't need to know about that and never gonna unsee things.

When the door shuts behind them, he backs up and lets Betty jump off the desk. They look at each other for a moment before they both blurt out, "We forgot to lock the door!"

It's embarrassing and they're never going to live it down but they can't help but laugh anyway.

Hour Twenty-Four

Mrs. Cooper offers to drive them to the dance. It's hard to make small talk with a woman you know is being blackmailed while also being responsible for sending her daughter to a creepy nunnery group home for what appears to be the severe crime of being pregnant. While not the best choice to make before you graduate high school, Jughead thinks it can't be worse than drugs or violent crime.

He also can't stop looking over at Betty, she looks beautiful. Her hair is down and her dress is off of her shoulders, something he's figured out he has a weakness for.

"You will text or call if you are going to go somewhere after the dance, Elizabeth," Mrs. Cooper announces as they pull up to the entrance of the school.

"Yes, Mom."

"And, Jug-Head, I expect you'll be a gentleman?"

"Of course, Mrs. Cooper," he replies immediately. He tries desperately not to think of earlier that afternoon as he makes eye contact with Betty's scary ass mother.

"Good. Now have a good time and make good choices."

Hour Twenty-Five

As it turns out, Archie's music is much more palatable when it's not originally his and he has Veronica singing with him.

Hour Twenty-Seven

Jughead gets Betty to leave the dance early to go to Pop's with Archie and Veronica. He can tell Betty is exhausted, between planning the dance, finding her sister and learning her shady family history she's not had a break.

In the booth, she's relaxing into him with her head against his shoulder, picking at the food on her plate.

"Is there any more information on the Twilight fire?" Veronica asks Betty who ends up yawning instead of answering.

"Not so far, they think it was arson for sure though," Jughead responds. "No leads that we know of yet, though."

Archie looks between them and questions, "How are you guys keeping all of these details in order?"

"With tenacity and tediousness," Jughead quips.

"Uhm, okay, Jug, whatever you say."

Betty perks up a little, lifting her head off of his shoulder. "What time is it?"

"Aw, Betty, does Jughead turn back into a pumpkin at midnight?" Veronica teases.

Jughead gives her an offended look.

"Don't worry, Jug, I think you look nice," Betty says with a smile, giving the tie he loosened as soon as they left the dance a little yank. "We better get home soon, though."

"Probably," he agrees.

They agree to Veronica's offer of Smithers driving the two of them home while she and Archie finish their food and Betty promptly falls asleep on the barely five minute drive. Jughead has his arm wrapped around her shoulder, rubbing small circles at the top of her bare arm, the skin softer than he thinks should be allowed and he thinks about the first school dance he ever took Betty to, a Valentine's Day dance much to his displeasure. They went as friends, of course, but he still remembers how pretty she looked.

February 2014

They agree to meet each other in the gym, it's the first real school dance he's gone to and only because Betty asked him too. He's not much for dancing or crowds or terrible music but he'd been asked by a pair of big green eyes and a hopeful smile and he's always been terrible about saying no to Betty Cooper.

She's wearing a pink dress with white hearts on it and a pink headband, keeping her hair off of her face. Jughead thinks she's the prettiest girl in the room as she drags him along behind her, telling him there are snacks if he wants some, though she thinks they're not very good. They stand by the snack table for a little while, Betty talking to people she knows and Jughead standing next to her, eating. Archie's been dancing with his date the entire time and he pretends that he doesn't notice Betty pretending not to care.

When he can't take the sadness behind her smile any longer, he asks her to dance. She smiles brightly at him and takes his hand as he walks out to the middle of the dance floor. She puts her hands around his neck and he places his carefully on her hips as they sway along to the music.

"Thank you, Juggie," she says to him, moving herself a little closer to him.

He manages to get out, "You're welcome, Betty." It's the first time he really thinks about the fact that he's touching her like that. It's all new to him and he's immediately distracted by her chest pressing against him. Reminding himself to breathe, he tries to concentrate on not stepping on her feet but he keeps losing track because there are actual breasts touching him and he thinks he's going to pass out.

Jughead has never been both more grateful and more resentful for the song ending and Betty pulling away from him. He suddenly has the thought that he might understand Archie a little better now when he talks about girls.

He bravely endures four more dances with Betty before the night is over and after that night he always agrees to go with her to the dances, even if he still sort of hates them. Betty likes them and having someone to dance with makes her happy and having Betty pressed up against him makes him happy.

He may hate Valentine's Day but he likes Betty Cooper.

Hour Twenty-Eight

"Hey, wake up," he says softly as he gently shakes Betty awake. Her eyes blink slowly at him before she realizes where she is and he grins at her sleepiness.

"We home?" she asks in a sleepy voice.

He helps her unbuckle her seat belt and holds her hand to help her out of the car. Once she's steady on her feet, he thanks Smithers and starts to head to her front door. She tugs on his hand, shaking her head and leading them to the side door of Archie's garage.

Once inside, she pulls him down as she sits on the couch that's been in there for as long as they can both remember.

"I don't want to go home yet," she mumbles into his shoulder, throwing her arm across his lap.

He laughs lightly at her actions and just says, "Okay." He lays his head back on the cushion of the couch and he can feel her rubbing her face on his arm. "What are you doing?"

"You smell good, you know?"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

He looks over at her and she's staring at him with bright eyes that remind him of how she looked earlier that day in the Blue and Gold. "You always smell good."

"I know. It's a girl thing."

"I think it's a Betty thing," he tells her, turning his head into her hair and then kissing her temple.

She's running a hand under the edge of the suit jacket he's still wearing. "Are you going to finish what you started earlier?"

He thinks he stopped breathing. "What?"

"Jug, just because it's not visible doesn't mean the girl doesn't suffer too, you know." Before he knows it she's pulling him as she's laying back on the couch, wrapping her arms around his neck as she moves her face to his neck where she starts lightly kissing him, moving her hands along his shoulders.

He stops her for a second so he can take the jacket off then moves back on top of her, putting most of his weight on his arms so he can look down at her.

"This is what you want?"

"Of course, Jug."

He discovers they can't really move with the length of her dress and he still has a tie hanging off of his neck so he puts his hands behind her shoulder blades and pulls her upright and into his lap. He's pushing the dress up her thighs so he can feel her skin and she's pulling the tie off of him and tossing it aside. He's running his hands along the outside of her thighs, feeling her muscles contracting with each pass and her trying not to laugh. "Are you ticklish there, Betty?"

"Shut up," she demands, leaning down to kiss him. She's already starting to move on top of him as she deepens the kiss, keeping his face between her hands.

He's steadily teasing her with his fingers that move to her inner thigh and she gasps and stiffens before melting back into him. He brings his head back to look up at her and her eyes are dark and she's making a steady stream of panting moans that are making it hard for him to concentrate.

When he brings his hands to the top of her legs and lets his thumbs caress the crease of her thigh she jumps a little in shock of the sensation and he keeps caressing her as she grinds into him. She pulls him closer to her and he ends up with his face at the top of her breasts and he can't stop himself from pressing kisses across her chest.

Her pace increases and they're both shocked when one of his hands slips and his thumb catches the edge of her underwear. They both stop and look at each other with wide eyes. Betty is breathing heavily as she just gives him a small nod and he starts to slowly move his hands again, keeping his thumb moving gently on top of the fabric he can now feel is damp and he groans at that.

The knowledge he's the one turning her on is making him want to give in to the urge to thrust up under her. It's a temptation he can't resist and he gives in to the impulse once and as he sees her let her head drop back and hears her inhale sharply, he does it again. And again. She's got her hands on his shoulders for leverage and his feet are firmly planted on the floor as they each move into the other frantically. He can feel her start to shudder against him, her legs shaking on either side of him as she bites her lip, then leaning forward to kiss him again to stay quiet. He can feel that the cotton he's been steadily caressing is far more damp than before and he jerks under her, swallowing back a moan as best he can as he finishes under her.

"Jesus, Betty. If any of this keeps getting better and better, I'm not going to survive it," he tells her, pulling his hands out from under her dress and smoothing it back down her legs.

She laughs softly, nodding, and touches her forehead to his, still breathing heavily. "And we don't even have our clothes off."

The thought of a naked Betty puts a smile of his face and he kisses her one more time.

Hour Thirty-Six

It's a little too early to be this energized on a weekend, he knows, but he can't help it. He goes downstairs and into the kitchen for some food when he sees Mary and Fred sitting in the kitchen, looking somber.

Immediately apprehensive, he stops short. "What's wrong?"

"They made an arrest for the Twilight fire."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Jug, they arrested your dad."