Thursday Lunchtime
"Okay, someone tell me what the hell is going on!" Betty yells, slapping her hands down on the table they're all sitting at to eat lunch.
She's looking around at three guilty faces, only Kevin, surprisingly, looks as baffled as she feels. Betty noticed the building tension on Tuesday but let it go as an off day. Wednesday, Jughead asked her to eat with him in the Blue and Gold, effectively avoiding Archie and Veronica. That's not unusual in itself but the fact that he had shown up to walk her to school sans Archie that same morning was suspicious. Trying to talk to him about it was a failure on her part, he insisted he was fine.
She had the same conversation with Archie and Veronica over the last two days as well. They're avoiding Jughead and he's avoiding them and no one will tell her why but now she's pissed off and she's going to find out what the problem is.
Getting upset, she finally looks straight at her boyfriend. "Jughead?"
The tone of her voice must belie her frustration and irritation because he winces before telling her, "We had a disagreement the other day and we haven't resolved it yet."
She's taken aback that not only did all of her best friends -including one she's dating- have a fight, they didn't tell her about it. "Did you think I wouldn't notice? Because this is obviously a noticeable situation!"
Her shoulders slump a little. Defeatedly she asks, "Are you going to tell me what it's about?"
Looking at all three of their faces tells her they aren't going to. Which means that it's either about her or it's something they don't think she can handle. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she decides she doesn't want to deal with any of them. "Fine. It's fine. Do you what you guys want, do whatever you want, okay? Just do it away from me."
Gathering her bag she gets up and starts to walk away when she feels Jughead grab her wrist lightly to hold her back.
"Betty…" he says and she can hear the pleading in his voice.
She straightens her spine and pulls her shoulders back and without turning around informs him, "I thought the people I trusted most wouldn't be the ones not telling me things, Jug. Since that's not true anymore, I don't want to talk to any of you."
Pretending her voice wasn't trembling and her eyes aren't watering, she feels him let go of her wrist as she leaves them behind.
Jughead is livid, staring at Veronica after Betty walks away. "Are you happy, Veronica? I told you to tell her whatever it was your problem is! I said nothing to her about it, to give you time to tell her yourself, to handle it the way you wanted and now Betty is mad at all of us-"
"Not me," Kevin interrupts, looking a little too pleased with himself.
Rolling his eyes at him, Jughead says, "You should go check on her, Kev. Make sure she's alright."
"And you don't think you should be the one to follow your girlfriend?" Kevin asks him with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, I do. In fact, I would love to get up and go make sure she's alright but I can't when she's just going to be mad when I still can't tell her everything is fine and mean it."
Kevin looks at him intently for a moment. "Fine, but you guys need to figure this out, especially if I have to miss it. I want details later from someone," he says walking away in the direction Betty went.
Jughead looks back at Veronica. "Why haven't you told her whatever nonsense you think she needs to know that makes her back off?"
"I'm surprised you didn't tell her immediately," Veronica sarcastically responds.
Jughead recognizes a defense mechanism when he sees one. He doesn't know what she's hiding but he's definitely convinced she's hiding something now. "Out of respect for the friendship you have with Betty, which is important to her by the way, I chose not to tell her. I had thought, wrongly, that you would say something to her right away since you're so worried about her safety. Or is that not what it's really about?"
"You know that it's what it's about!"
"Whatever, Veronica."
Finally looking at Archie he asks, "And you, Archie? Have you told Betty she needs to back off in the name of safety?"
"Jug, come on, man," he mumbles out. "I don't know why you're against telling her she's putting herself in danger. It puts you in danger too, you know."
"She knows she's putting herself in danger. Do you think she doesn't get that?" Jughead informs them both. "She's going to do it anyway. That's what you two don't seem to understand. And when she does, and she will, as much as I want her to be safe, I want her to know she can count on me to be there for her. Which is what I expected of you two, though that seems to have been a mistake."
"You know I'd never let Betty get hurt, Jughead," Archie tells him. "Not if I could stop it."
"Then help her, Arch. You know how her mom is, man. Don't try and control her." Getting up, Jughead grabs his bag and the rest of his lunch when he looks at Veronica with stormy eyes. "If you don't tell her by tonight, Veronica, I will. I tried to respect the boundaries of your friendship with her but I'm not going to lose Betty because you're disrespecting the boundaries of my relationship."
He can feel the resignation coming off of Veronica in waves as he walks back towards the school.
Jughead can hear part of a conversation as he nears the partially open door of the Blue and Gold.
"-so cute, I know, right? His name is Joaquin."
"Did he ask you out?" he hears Betty ask, the excitement clear in her voice and it makes him smile. At least Kevin distracted her for a minute.
"I gave him my number, so we'll see."
Taking a deep breath before he pushes the door open to enter the room he prays he doesn't fuck this up.
Betty turns to look at him and the smile on her face falls as she turns back around, ignoring him.
"Ouch," Kevin mouths at him, making a sympathetic face.
Steeling himself, he walks up behind her, leaning forward a little to speak lowly into her ear. "I know you're mad, and you should be, but I'm hoping you'll listen to me before you, rightfully, tell me to go kick rocks."
Betty is silent and he can see her jaw clenching and knows she's about to turn the hands hanging by her sides into fists. He reaches forward quickly and grabs both of her hands into his. By her startled jump he knows she didn't expect him to do that but she doesn't tell him to let go so he keeps holding her hands, looking over his shoulder at Kevin tilting his head at the door suggesting he leave them alone. Kevin nods and leaves them, closing the door behind him.
He turns his head back to Betty, staring the profile of her face. "Betts," he sighs out. "This thing between Veronica, Archie, and me, it's something that they need to tell you themselves, okay? And yes, I'm angry at them right now because I don't agree with what they're trying to do. I wanted them to tell you on their own, alright? Getting between your friendships with other people isn't something I want to start doing but I already told them to tell you by tonight or I'll tell you everything I know."
"What could be so bad that you're fighting with them over it?" she questions him quietly.
Jughead lets a breath out and rests his forehead on the top of her head. "I really need you to let me give them time I gave them to come to you because we both know if you keep asking I'm going to give in."
"That's why I keep asking," she tells him and she can hear the small amount of amusement in her voice.
He grins into her hair at that. "Devious girl."
She shrugs, still facing away from him. He knows the disagreement over the last couple of days has been hard on her. It hasn't been easy on him either but he, at least, knew the reasons behind it.
Two Nights Ago
Walking back into the Andrews house after spending a little one on one mostly naked time with Betty had gone a long way with relaxing him. Seeing Archie, however, brought a lot of it back. Sitting in the kitchen with Fred, Jughead bypasses the kitchen in favor of taking a quick shower before trying to find something to eat.
"Jug," Archie calls out. "Come on, Jughead, don't be like that."
He can hear the concern in Fred's voice when he asks Archie, "Something happen?"
Resigned to the fact that he wasn't getting his quick shower before talking to anyone he walks back toward the kitchen. He just stands in the doorway with an indifferent look on his face.
"What's up, Jug?" Fred questions.
"Nothing," he answers. "Nothing at all."
"Hmm," Fred mutters. "You sure about that?"
"Currently? Yes," he replies passively.
Fred stares at him then Archie. Leaning back with arms crossed he tells them, "So, obviously something is going on. You boys have only ever fought over a few things in your entire lives -and I don't think who hit who harder with the Nerf swords is an option any longer- so which one of you did what to Betty and who is mad at who for it?"
Archie rubs the palms of his hands over his eyes tiredly. "I did the what to Betty and Jug is the one mad."
Jughead stands there, still passive. "No, Archie, it was you agreeing with Veronica, knowing Betty isn't going to go along with it. That's just going to make her feel cornered."
Fred looks between them, trying to read between the lines. "By your vague answers I take it you consider it none of my business?"
Both Archie and Jughead stay quiet, using silence as the answer.
"Alright. Here's the advice you didn't ask for: Archie, Jughead is going to take Betty's side so agree to disagree or, I don't know, fight to the death at dawn. Just don't forget to feed Vegas before you go," he tells them as he leaves the kitchen, heading towards the living room.
Staring at Archie, Jughead just shakes his head and turns around to head back to the stairs.
Wrapping his arms around her with her hands still in his, he feels her lean back into him. "How long are you gonna stay mad at me?"
Betty lays her head back on his chest, under his chin. "I don't know, how long are you usually mad at me for?"
"I think my all time record might have been five minutes."
Betty scoffs at him. "Five minutes? You didn't talk to me for a whole day when I said the pink Power Ranger was better than the red one."
"There is a slight chance I knew if you thought I was really mad you would bring me my favorite cookies, so, really, the five minute record stands," he tells her, tightening his arms around her.
"That's emotional blackmail by cookie, Jughead. How can I ever trust you again?"
Sighing loudly and dramatically into her hair he lets her go, turning her around and placing his hands on her shoulders. "This might be the end then, Betty."
"Ah, well. We had a good run," she agrees.
Smiling and leaning forward to place a kiss on her forehead he murmurs to her, "I love you."
Betty looks at him with an expression that he thinks looks like she's internally debating where to dump his body and just says, "The jury is still out today on how I feel, ask me later."
"I have it on good authority that you said you'd love me more than you did Monday," he states a little smugly.
Glaring at him, Betty pulls on one his suspenders hanging off of his hips to throw him off balance. "Verbal contracts are hard to prove without witnesses, Jug."
He laughs and pulls her into his arms again. "And to think you made fun of my yarn fetish when you're over here wishing you had witnesses for what we did."
"You're awful and I hate you," she says with a sniff into the edges of his coat.
"Yeah, yeah, I hate you too."
Veronica finds Jughead alone in the Blue and Gold office after school. She knows Betty will be in the locker room getting ready for practice and she only has maybe ten minutes before she's unforgivably late in Cheryl's opinion.
He's sitting at a desk, hunched over his laptop, typing quickly with headphones on. Walking quickly to where he's at she makes sure to kick the leg of his chair lightly to make him look up.
He doesn't look pleased at all. Well, neither is she so they're even.
"What are you doing here?" he asks with an irritated tone.
"Look, Jughead, you don't have all of the facts and you did a good job of pushing my back to the wall on this one," she tells him. "So just, be quiet and listen now, can you do that?"
He sits back, looking at her skeptically for a moment before making a hand gesture that she should continue. So she does, quickly and quietly she tells him everything.
Monday Afternoon
Veronica chases after Cheryl as Betty sits down in the locker room, looking a little broken.
"Cheryl!" she shouts at her as she catches up, pulling on her arm to turn her around.
"Is there a reason you're touching me, you Park Avenue reject?" Cheryl asks her, brushing Veronica's hand off of her.
She rolls her eyes at her then crosses her arms to stare Cheryl down. "What's the real reason you won't tell Betty how Polly is? Come on now, we both know it has to do with more than her safety."
"Are you implying I'm not worried about my dear cousin's welfare?"
"I'm telling you I know a game player when I see one. So, Cheryl, what's your game?"
Cheryl moves closer to Veronica, smirking. "You need to get your Betty Crocker BFF to back off. Taking her to Shadow Lake was a favor to Polly. And it's one I have no plans on repeating, especially if Barbie and her very own Ponyboy do anything that might put JJ and his babies in jeopardy."
Considering this and starting to worry about how involved they all are now she lets her arms fall and relaxes her stance.
"And just think about what your daddy would think and, possibly do, if he finds out some high school girl with a savior complex and a lapdog boyfriend is getting in the way of his plans," she tells her.
Flipping her hair behind her shoulder, Cheryl walks past her leaving to her thoughts. And new fears.
Jughead is looking determinedly at the desk in front of him. "Do you think your father would hurt Betty? Or me? Archie? Even you?"
"Me? No. The rest of you? I want to say no, I really do, but I can't trust him anymore, even in prison he's buying land and hiring gangs. And that's just what I know about."
"You still need to tell Betty, I'm not going to keep quiet after the sun goes down, okay? Betty forgives a lot and I'm not trying to push the limit on it so I will tell her if you don't."
Giving him a stiff nod, Veronica turns around and heads back towards the locker rooms to get dressed for practice.
Late Thursday Afternoon
"Bettykins," she hears Veronica saying to her as she's getting ready to leave after their River Vixen practice.
Turning around she look at Veronica, who looks nervous. "Yeah?"
"Can you come with me to the Blue and Gold so we can talk?"
Betty is apprehensive but nods as she starts to follow Veronica out of the locker room and down the hallway to where the office is.
When she enters behind Veronica, she can see Jughead is still there, working on an article and probably waiting for her. He looks up and over at her, giving her a smile before going back to what he was doing once he spots Veronica as well.
Taking a stabilizing breath, she turns to her friend, ready for an explanation. "Go ahead, V."
Closing her eyes for a moment, Veronica looks like she's steeling herself. "Betty, I want to know first and foremost that I love you-"
"That's an ominous start," she interrupts and hears an amused snort come from Jughead.
"Yes, well, it's the truth. This thing with Polly? It's getting dangerous. I'm worried that you're going to upset the wrong person and end up with a target on your back. Finding where Polly was? Knowing the truth of the situation? You know that now, can't we let the authorities handle the rest of it?"
"The authorities that tried to arrest both Jughead and his dad with no evidence?" Betty answers derisively.
Veronica is wringing her hands with a pained look. "B, if you keep digging and you dig straight to my father, I have no doubt he'll try and come harder at your parents or even at you. Jughead. Archiekins. If he can use something against you, I'm worried he will."
Betty looks over at Jughead who is pretending not to listen. "And you, Jug? Are you worried?"
Jughead starts to slowly nod as he says, "Of course I am, Betty. And I should be. But that doesn't mean I won't follow you into whatever you're going to walk into."
Eyes moving back between Veronica and Jughead she considers what they're saying. And maybe they're both a little right. Impulsivity has its place and she's very good at acting on her emotions. You can't be one step ahead of the game if you're blundering your way through the board.
Fidgeting with nerves, Veronica is shifting her weight back and forth between her legs as Jughead starts bouncing his leg the longer she's silent.
"Okay."
With a stunned face, Veronica just asks, "Okay?"
Betty nods, crossing her ankles as she leans back on the edge of a desk. "Okay. The best plays are the moves no one sees coming, right? So, as far as anyone is going to know, I'm not playing anymore."
"You don't think that's still a little dangerous?"
"Sure it is. But I'm not going to stop and this is my best offer. I'll figure out how to be more subtle and the two of you will stop fighting."
Leaning back into his chair Jughead stretches his arms over his head. "I can do that." Shooting a look at Veronica he questions, "Can you?"
Scoffing at him, she replies, "Of course I can."
Jumping up and clapping her hands once Betty exclaims, "Great!" then putting a more serious expression on her face she tells them both, "The next time you two have a fight it better be a better reason than this. This one was ridiculous."
Friday Afternoon
Betty can see Archie headed her way, a disturbed expression on his face. When he reaches her, he just grabs her hand and leads her to a secluded corner.
"What's up, Arch?"
"You remember how you said that some of the football players were the ones selling drugs here?" he asks.
Furrowing her eyebrows she answers, "Yeah, we didn't know who though, we just got a tip that it was definitely the football players."
Archie lets his head fall back before he looks down at her again. "It's Reggie. I saw him dealing after lunch as I was going to class."
Betty is surprised but not shocked. "You're sure?"
Nodding at her, Archie says, "I'm sure. Very sure."
Sighing loudly at the stupidity of Reggie Mantle she tightens the hold she has on the books in her hands. "Don't tell anyone you know, okay?"
"Even Jughead?"
"What? No, of course not, you can tell Jughead."
"Alright. I'll see you later, Betty," he says as he turns around and heads back from the way he came leaving her to her thoughts.
Oh Reggie, you're dumber than I thought.
Friday Night
Jughead is nervous. He doesn't know if it's normal to be nervous taking your established girlfriend out on an actual date when you've had your hands on most parts of her while naked but he's still full of anxiety.
And though there isn't much to actually do in Riverdale aside from the Bijou and Pop's, it's still more than hanging out with Betty, it's a date and that comes with expectations. He's not sure what sort of expectations, but they're there just the same.
Standing outside of Betty's front door, trying to talk himself into ringing the bell, he's reevaluating every point of his life that is leading him to actually stand in front of Alice Cooper and tell her he's here to take her youngest daughter out on a date.
Does it matter that they went to the dance together? No. That's an occurrence that's happened plenty over the years. This is totally different. Dating means kissing and touching and everyone knowing you're doing it. The idea that her parents will know he's kissing Betty is only slightly less scary than the fact that he's going to look them in the eye and immediately think, I know what your daughter's face looks like when she comes, did you know that?
The goal, however, is to not blurt that out.
Finally knocking the door it takes about ten seconds before it opens, an unimpressed Alice Cooper looking at him.
"Hey, Mrs. Cooper, is Betty ready?" he asks, trying not to fidget under her stare.
Opening the door further to invite him in she tells him, "She'll be down in a minute." Turning to him, staring at him unflinchingly she excels in what she does best; making him uncomfortable. "And where are you taking Betty tonight?"
"Uh, just to the Bijou. And Pop's."
Staring at him in silence after he answers he almost falls to the ground in relief when he hears the sound of Betty running down the stairs.
"Mom, I already told you where we were going," she announces as she hits the last step.
Jughead sees her in her pretty pink skirt and gray sweater with her hair around her shoulders smiling at him and he relaxes just enough to forget that he's being stared at by her mom. He's about to say she looks beautiful when his train of thought is interrupted.
"I expect you to have her home by curfew, Jug-Head."
He jumps the slightest bit, a thing he will deny until he dies, and turns to answer her. "Of course, Mrs. Cooper."
And though he's pretty sure she's seeing if she can actually set him on fire by the way she's glaring at him she lets them walk out of the door without adding anything else.Thank god, he thinks.
Once the door closes behind them he stops Betty to face him. "Here," he says, pulling the hand he had been keeping behind his back in what he hopes was a casual manner to give her the single pink daisy he'd been holding.
Her face lights up in a big smile. "You're sweet, Juggie. Thank you." Taking it and putting through one of the buttonholes on her sweater, they continue down the stairs from her front door and to the movie theater.
Grabbing her hand as they reach the street his nerves are calmer but still making him a little jumpy. "You're fine with a movie, right? I mean, I'm sure we could do something else if you wanted but-"
"Jug, a movie is fine," she tells him. "Besides, where else can I sit alone with you for two hours in the dark knowing no one is looking for either one of us?" She winks at him as she walks faster and ends up pulling him along behind her.
Settled into the back corner of the theater, she can see Jughead already starting to dig into the popcorn he bought. She's so distracted by being on an actual date with him she's not even sure what movie they're watching. All she knows is it's old, black and white, and right up Jughead's alley.
There is a certain amount of anticipation she has for this outing that she didn't have for the night of his birthday. Sure, she wanted him to kiss her, and he did, but now that they've gone further, she wants him to really kiss her, sitting here in the dark in an empty theater. Betty is starting to think he's not going to be the first one to make a move, most likely either actually watching the movie or trying be respectful when all she really wants is him to put his mouth places she knows would get her arrested for public indecency.
Rolling her eyes at seeing him staring at the screen she finally gives in and grabs his hand. He immediately links his fingers with hers which is sweet and any other time she'd be a little melty at how oddly affectionate he is with her for someone who makes you think they're the human version of barbed wire.
"Jug," she whispers in his ear.
He looks at her, confused."What?"
How can someone be so aware at certain times and then be so dense at others? With a small sigh, she tugs on the hand she's holding until he has to lean towards her. His eyes light up in recognition and setting the popcorn he had in his other down before turning all the way to her, gripping the back of her neck with his hand and bringing her face to his, kissing her softly before she feels him deepen it, the soft slide of his tongue on hers encouraging her to move forward into him.
The armrest of the seat between them is digging into her ribs but she hardly pays it any mind as she reaches one hand to rest on his leg as the other lets go of the hand she was holding and putting it on his shoulder blade to hold him in place. She can feel his now freed hand run up her leg under her skirt, not too high, but just enough to get a good grip on her inner thigh and make her breath hitch in anticipation.
Spending two hours making out in a dark movie theater might be the most relaxed she's been in weeks. Smiling into the last kiss he presses against her lips as the movie ends reminds her what it's like to have fun again.
Jughead walks Betty home after the movie, after Pop's, and after a quick stop swing on a swing set because Betty wanted to swing and who was he to refuse?
Making sure he can't see anyone (namely Alice Cooper) peeking out of the curtains of the windows in the front of Betty's house he kisses her goodnight one last time. Just as she's about to go inside he tells her, "You know, this is the best first date I've ever been on."
Smiling she responds, "Yeah? Me too."
"Then again, you know," he says, putting his hands in his pockets, "this is my first date ever so there's that."
Betty laughs at him, turning the doorknob as she pulls the slightly crumpled daisy from the buttonhole she put it in hours ago. "Good to know I set the bar high, then."
"The highest."
"Goodnight, Jug."