Friday Afternoon

"Jughead, are you ever going to forgive me?" Veronica asks after following him into the school library.

The truth is, he doesn't know. He's almost choked up by the time he looks at her. "God, Veronica, I want to. Betty wants me to, fuck does she want me to, but every time I think about how she could have been hurt by your lying to the both of us, I am incredibly angry all over again."

"I need you to try," she tells him with a trembling voice. "Betty is the best person I've ever met and while it's true that boys come and go, I know if it comes down to me or you, it's not going to be me she chooses."

Tiredly rubbing his eyes before he looks over at her he thinks he gets it, the intensity of her wanting forgiveness. Losing Betty as someone you can count on is one of the more terrifying things he thinks about and in that, he understands her. He knows Betty would want him to try.

He also knows he would do anything for Betty. "I am going to try but it's not for you, okay? Maybe in time, once this is all over, I'll figure out how to let it go but for now, this is about Betty." Seeing her red rimmed eyes, he relents a little more. "I consider you my friend, Veronica, and I almost never say that, so I promise I'll try."

Veronica's head nod and small smile as she walks away makes him wonder if he's being, as Betty puts it, 'so dramatic, Jug, oh my god'. He turns around at the feeling of eyes on him and he sees a pair of big green eyes peeking past one of the bookshelves, watching the interaction.

He wants to smile so badly at just how adorable he finds her but he knows he should put up a front of offense that she was spying on him. Frowning with a big sigh he turns to face her fully before he head can pop back behind the bookshelf. "Did you get what you were after, Betty?"

Jughead hears her exhale loudly before she steps out into view.

"Yes. Mostly."

"Mostly?"

She shrugs at him. "I was going for full forgiveness but I'll take what I can get."

"C'mere," he says, reaching for her. "I'm going to try, okay?" Wrapping his arms around her, he puts his forehead on hers, closing his eyes in relaxation at her proximity.

He feels Betty put her arms around his back, her fingers curling into the cotton.

"It's been a week, you know," she murmurs to him.

"I thought you were working on your subtlety, baby?" he whispers into her ear, tugging lightly at her earlobe with his teeth.

By the way her breathing increases and the shiver that runs through her he thinks he's got her sufficiently distracted.

"I'm subtle!" she exclaims quietly. "I was simply making an observation."

"An extremely obvious one where your intentions may as well be written in neon above your head."

She pushes at him trying to break out of his grip. "Ugh, fine, but we're still going to Veronica's this weekend so you better get used to the idea."

"Oh, I'm used to it, I just don't like it," he tells her, not letting her go and slowly walking her back until the soft bump of the shelves stopped her movement. "I am never going to like it. In fact, if I thought there was a chance I'd survive kidnapping you until this was all settled, I would."

"You don't think you'd survive kidnapping me?" she asks with a smirk.

Jughead moves his hands to cup both sides of her face. "I know I wouldn't. Can you imagine? If you didn't kick my ass, I could just see Veronica braining me with one of those scary shoes she wears and, I don't know, hog tying me with those pearls of hers."

Laughing loudly and trying to keep it quiet she leans forward to kiss him, her hands moving back to hold onto his shoulders. Once she tries to pull back he pushes himself against her, holding her in place, tilting her head back and deepening the kiss, letting the feel of her tongue against his distract him from the fact that they were very much in a public space.

When he finally breaks the kiss, he takes a deep breath, smelling the sweet scents of her hair and perfume.

Betty looks at him sweetly. "We're still going, Juggie."

He sighs and nods. Like he ever had a chance otherwise.

Saturday Evening

"Daddy," Veronica starts, "these are my friends Betty and Jughead. And this," she continues with a slight pause as she latches onto Archie's arm, "is my boyfriend, Archie Andrews."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Hiram Lodge tells them. Betty isn't buying the charm he's oozing but she plasters on her very best smile and steps forward to shake his hand even as she feels Jughead slip a finger in one of her belt loops, trying to hold her still.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Lodge," Betty says, reaching her hand out and trying not to recoil when he slips his hand into hers. She didn't expect the feel of loathing to burn into her when she laid eyes on him but it does. This man is ruining her family; and for what? Power.

She hopes he can see the disgust in her eyes.

Archie shakes his hand next and in true Jughead fashion, he gives him a salute while refusing to acknowledge Hiram directly. Sighing internally, she knows her boyfriend is going to cause a scene at some point in the evening.

Sending him a pointed look she rolls her eyes when he just shrugs at her and follows Veronica into another room.

"So, let's sit for a little bit before dinner," Veronica tells them, gesturing to the sofa. "I also had a few snacks put out since I knew Jughead was going to be here."

Jughead immediately reaches for a bowl of popcorn before sitting next to her. "You didn't have to do that, V," she remarks. "Did she, Jug?"

"I never turn down food, Betty. So, even if you didn't have to, thank you, Veronica," he says, sending a smile in her direction.

Betty and Veronica share a look they hope the boys don't see. Not that Betty would ever admit that they devised a plan of food as a way to make amends with Jughead but if it works, then, well, she's just going to call that a win. She'd been plying him with baked goods for the last week but coming from her, the one person he seemingly can't be mad at for more than an hour, it hadn't been very effective.

And sure, Veronica wasn't going to show up with muffins or cookies but she could put out snacks that Jughead just happens to like, and if the intel came from Betty herself on what he likes, what's the harm?

Making small talk with the man she knows is blackmailing her family is harder than she thought it would be. She wants to lash out, to yell at his audacity, to promise retribution but all she does is smile politely and feign interest in whatever banal bullshit is coming out of his mouth. She can hear Jughead continually make what she knows are sarcastic rebuttals in every movement and sound he makes.

Betty is starting to think he's keeping his mouth full just so he won't say anything, which she appreciates but knows won't last.

So she's not surprised in the least when less than five minutes later when Hiram asks about his name that it's the beginning of the end.

"Is Jughead a nickname?" Hiram asks, looking intently at him and she can see the calculation on his face.

Just shrugging and sitting back on the sofa, slumping like it's an insult to the Lodge living room he replies, "Yes, it is. The real thing is worse."

"And what is the real thing?"

"You know, I use the nickname so I don't have to tell people the real thing. I'm not looking to change that anytime soon, Mr. Lodge," he states, the challenge clear on his face.

Hiram takes it in relative stride even as Betty thinks she finally understands what Jughead means when he says she's going to kill him. Heart racing, she reaches over and takes his hand and he winces with how hard she's gripping it.

Sitting back into one of the more formal chairs, Hiram seems to consider Jughead for a moment. "You remind me of someone, Jughead. He too, had an odd nickname. Have you ever heard of Poppa Poutine?"

"No, I don't believe I have."

Betty can see Archie's eyes bouncing back and forth between the other men in the room. Veronica doesn't look like she's breathing and Betty herself is squeezing her boyfriend's hand, praying for him to just shut the fuck up already.

"Not that it matters, mind you, since he's dead now," Hiram announces with ease. "His son-"

"Please tell me his son isn't named Baby Gravy or-" Jughead interrupts. Archie chokes on air, trying to keep a straight face.

"No, Small Fry, actually," Hiram finishes. "Where was I? Oh yes, see Small Fry wanted retribution for his dear Poppa and unfortunately, he never got it."

Jughead is staring hard at Hiram. "Every story has a moral, right? So what's the moral in this one?"

"No moral, more of an anecdote, really. But it does seem that the son always end up paying for the sins of the father, doesn't it?"

"Why's that?"

"Because Small Fry wanted revenge and now he's dead. Sometimes, the only conclusion is to let sleeping dogs lie, don't you agree, Jughead Jones?"

Betty is on the edge of hyperventilating and she knows she's leaving marks in the skin of Jughead's hand when he sits forward, letting the elbow of the arm she doesn't have a hold of relax casually on his leg. "I think I'd prefer to give the benefit of the doubt to the sons paying for their father's sins. Or, in some cases, daughters as well," he says with a quick glance at Veronica. "And maybe some dogs need to be woken up. Or even put down."

It's like watching two bulls getting ready to charge each other when Veronica claps her hands and states, "I think dinner should be ready by now!"

Sighing in relief Betty stands, pulling Jughead up with her.

Friday Late Afternoon

Cheryl finds her before Vixens practice.

"Cousin Betty," she seems to coo at Betty. It puts her on high alert since this is the first time she's seen her in a week. "I have news."

"How are you, Cheryl? I'm sorry to hear about your father," Betty says to her sincerely. Sure, she hated Clifford Blossom but she doesn't want anyone to lose their father.

"You're not that sorry, but that's fine. Neither am I," Cheryl states. "That's not my news. I wanted to let you know that JJ and Pollykins have moved home-"

"Home?" Betty interrupts confusedly.

"To Thornhill, of course. Where else would home possibly be?"

"Polly-"

"Isn't interested in living with the people that sent her away to a convent for the egregious sin of being pregnant," Cheryl cuts her off. "That being said, Polly wants me to invite you to the baby shower I'm throwing for her on Sunday."

"This Sunday?"

"What other Sunday do you think I could possibly mean?"

"Of course, sorry. Tell Polly I'll be there," she responds. "Is our mother invited?"

"You may tell her if you want but if she comes and upsets Polly in any way, she will be escorted out. You can even bring your hobo if you want, just make sure he's dressed somewhat decently and don't let him eat all of the food."

"Thank you, Cheryl."

She gives her a short nod before looking her up and down. "Now let's practice before your thighs rip the seams out of those shorts."

Tugging the hem down on her shorts self consciously, she follows Cheryl into the gym.

Saturday Evening

"Veronica tells me that you run the school newspaper, Betty," Hermione Lodge says to her as she lays her fork down next to her plate.

Betty, still a little freaked out after the stunt Jughead pulled, looks at her wide eyed before answering. "Yes, I do. With Jughead."

"Of course. And do you want to be a journalist like your parents?"

"I like it, yes, but I don't know if I want to do it as a career."

Hiram Lodge is calculating in his looks as his eyes flit back and forth between her and Jughead. "You'll have to excuse me for forgetting to mention it, since I assumed it was a known courtesy, but hats are inappropriate at the table, don't you think?"

Betty closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. The tension is palpable and in that instant she knows Jughead was right. They should have never come here, it's been a waste of time with not even a second where one of Veronica's parents haven't had their eyes on them. She thinks one of them might even stand outside the bathroom door if she needed to use it.

Jughead sits up straighter, visibly annoyed. "I'd really rather not, if you don't mind."

"Forgive me, Jughead, I must just be used to a different etiquette," he responds calmly, taking a drink from the wine glass in front of him.

"So is that what prison is like then? A finishing school? Hats off next to your plastic trays of mass produced food and don't forget to close your eyes if someone drops the soap?" Jughead remarks, tossing his napkin over his plate.

"Jughead!" Betty whispers loudly to him, trying to convey her need for him to seriously, just shut the fuck up.

He stands up, pulling her with him. "I find, Mr. Lodge, that my manners, while lacking for someone of your stature, have served me well so far in life."

"Is that so?" Hiram questions, leaning back and looking vaguely amused by his audacity.

"Yes. You see, I may be from the wrong side of the tracks but I did seem to learn one thing that you haven't," Jughead tells him.

"Which is?"

"That while hats at the dinner table may be considered socially unacceptable, I never thought it was less socially acceptable than blackmail."

Friday Evening

He's waiting for her in the Blue and Gold office to get out her cheerleading practice, staring at their crime board from his place on the sofa, lost in thought when she enters, still in uniform.

"Hey," she greets him, smiling and bouncing over to him.

He's amused by her happy energy. "What's up?"

"Cheryl told me Polly and Jason are at Thornhill and she's throwing them a baby shower on Sunday!"

"Hmm, so Polly is living at Thornhill now?"

Betty's smile fades a little. "Yeah, but she should, shouldn't she? She loves Jason and my parents sent her away, I wouldn't want to live at home either."

"I can see that. So, are you ready to go?"

Walking over to him, she sets herself on his lap. "Or, you know, we could use our alone time to our advantage."

"Is that right?"

Nodding at him with a coy smile, she settles herself even further into his lap, putting her hands in the back of his hair, running them up and through it until his hat falls off and to the side, landing on the cushion.

"Are you trying to tell me something, Betty?" he asks, trailing his fingers up and over the outside of her thighs. "I feel like you're flirting with me."

"Who, me?" she says, hands now playing with the collar of his shirt.

He knows he's smiling at her, probably ridiculously so, but he can't help himself. "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?"

Biting her lip and staring wide eyed at him she thinks for a moment before answering. "Hmm, Veronica has."

"Just Veronica?"

"Uhm, Dilton Doiley once when he tried to get me to go to a dance with him-"

"Dilton asked you to a dance?"

"Yeah, but we had already agreed to go together and watching you squirm when I made you dance with me was gonna be more fun than going with Dilton."

He glares at her a little. "You made me dance with you to mess with me?"

"Sometimes."

Leaning up, he whispers in her ear. "I've got news for you, baby. I loved dancing with you, you'd always press your tits against me and the hardest part was pretending I hated it."

Betty starts giggling and pulls back to look him in the eye. "Little Juggie was a pervert?"

"Oh yeah. You gonna answer me?"

"I don't know, it was just some guy I know. Totally unremarkable, your average run of the mill-"

He cuts her off with a kiss, putting a hand on the curve of her neck to hold her in place. "You're beautiful, Betty."

Rolling her eyes at him she grins at him. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"Other girls exist?"

"Oh my god, you're so lame, you know that, right?" she tells him, moving her hips in a small circle, making his breath hitch.

"Insults, Betty? Has it come to that? Is the shine gone from our relationship already?" he groans out at her, throwing his head back against the sofa. "How will I ever survive?"

She leans into him, nipping at his earlobe softly. "You know, I once heard that orgasms are healing."

"Are you sure you didn't just make that up?" he says to her, letting his fingers travel to the inside of her thighs, moving up slowly and making her muscles tighten and her eyes close.

"Oddly enough, no. I really did read that somewhere."

"Does my girl read porn?" he questions, finding that she was missing the blue spandex shorts she usually wears under her cheer skirt and was wearing nothing but her usual cotton panties.

"Porn makes it sound trashy, Jug."

Running his fingers at the creases of her thighs, slightly under the elastic edges of her panties he smirks at her. "So you do read porn?"

She shivers and grabs his shoulders in a tight grip. "Let's just agree to call them romance novels, okay?"

He laughs at her, thumbs slipping further under the elastic to find her warm and wet for him. "Who knew Betty Cooper was so dirty?"

Her hips jerk slightly, pushing her further into his hands. "Oh please, Jughead. You were the one pretending to hate dancing just to feel me up by proxy."

"I make no apologies for that, I happen to think it was one of my more brilliant ideas."

Slipping her panties to the side, he slides a finger into her, keeping his thumb moving in circles on her clit, watching her bite her lip and struggle to keep her eyes open.

"Betty."

Her only answer is a slight moan as she grips his shoulders even tighter, the possibility of bruises making him breathe a little harder, move a little faster. Who knew having his girl mark him would trip his trigger?

"Elizabeth."

She finally focuses enough to hold his eyes for more than a mere second. "What?"

"I just wanted to see your face," he says, slipping another finger into her with no warning. She sucks in a sharp breath, something he finds incredibly satisfying. He must hit something magical with his fingers because her whole body tightens around him, her head falls to his shoulder, and she starts breathing harder and faster.

So, he does it again.

And again.

And he keeps doing it until she's shaking and he's almost concerned about her breathing pattern but he only stops after her hands reach down to grab his wrist and hold it still. Turning her head into the curve at his neck, he can feel the light sheen of sweat he's caused.

Trying not to sound like a smug jackass as he slowly slides his fingers out of her, careful not let them drag across her, making her messier than she already is he asks, "Is this what you had in mind?"

He hears a muffled murmur of agreement and he can't stop the laugh that comes out. She sits up slowly like the effort is just a little too much and as soon as she's upright he doesn't think before putting his fingers in his mouth. She's flushed and staring at him with big eyes, still breathing a little harder than normal when he slides them back out and pulls her into a kiss. Running his tongue across her lips, against her tongue, the hold he has on her jaw tightening until she's mostly lax against him, he kisses her until they both need to catch their breath.

"Are you ready to go home now?" he asks, gently pushing some of the hair that has escaped her ponytail back behind her ear.

She reaches for him, hands going to the waistband of his pants. "Don't you want-"

"It can wait, we don't want to give your mom a reason to hate me. Well, more than she already does."

A soft giggle comes out as she tries to stand on shaky legs. "I don't think she hates you, she just, ugh, I think it's more about your father than you."

"What? Why?" he asks but then stops and his face twists in disgust. "Gross."

"Sorry to make you think about it, Juggie."

"Talk about a mood killer. Now I'm definitely good to go home. Yuck."

Laughing and taking his hand, she leads him out of the Blue and Gold, her bag in his hand as they make their way out of the school.

Saturday Night

"What is wrong with you, Jughead?!" Betty yells at him as soon as they get out of the Pembrooke and onto the sidewalk.

He honestly doesn't know. Keeping his mouth shut had become impossible somewhere between getting out of the elevator and the first words Hiram Lodge had spoken. His defenses, however, were already in motion long before the rational part of his brain kicked in. "Me? You heard the way he spoke, Betty! That man is a criminal and he's made multiple efforts to ruin your life. Possibly mine as well!"

"I know that, Jug-"

"No, Betty, what part of me not wanting to do this did you not get?" Jughead interrupts, almost shouting at her on the street.

"Then why did you come?" Betty asks in a tired voice.

"You know why," he says. "I came for you."

"How was starting a fight with Hiram Lodge for me, Jug? How? You did exactly what you weren't supposed to do!"

"You can't expect me to sit back and watch the world hurt you, Betty. I can't. I refuse," he tells her in a shaky voice. "There's no universe where I can let that happen."

Her eyes soften for the first time since they made it outside. "The world," she sighs, "it comes for everyone, Jug."

"Maybe it does," he informs her. "But when it comes to you, I won't let it win."

Shaking her head, she just shrugs at him. "Walk me home, Jughead."

Nodding at her, he sticks his hands in his pockets and follows her on the long walk home. "I'm not sorry, Betty."

"I know."

After an almost completely silent walk to her door he touches her shoulder to get her to turn to him. "Do you still want me to come with you to Polly's baby shower tomorrow?"

"I don't think so, Jug," she answers with a sigh. "I- I don't know how I'll feel tomorrow but right now I just want to enjoy seeing my sister again, okay?"

The words feel thick in his throat as he tells her, "Yeah, sure."

As she's reaching for the doorknob he can't help himself as he asks, "Still love me?"

Turning to him she has a sad smile on her face. "Of course I do."

"And tomorrow?"

"Even then."

He looks at her with remorse, not sorry, but wishing the night had ended differently. "Always?"

"How about forever?"

Feeling just a little lighter at that, he smiles at her. "I'll take it."

Sunday Morning

Betty wakes up to a text from Veronica. I'll pick you up today, we'll drive to Thornhill together. Okay?

A quick reply of Sure, sounds good improves the lingering sadness from the night before.

Spending the morning catching up on homework, trying to convince her mom to ride with her and Veronica to the shower, and going through far too many outfits proves to be a good distraction from being upset with her boyfriend.

At noon she gets the text that Veronica is waiting outside with her car. Yelling a goodbye to her mom and telling her that she'll see her at the shower she runs out the door and down the stairs and slips into the car. Turning to say hello to Veronica she stops short and chokes on the words.

"Miss Cooper, how are you? I think it's time we had a talk, just you and me, don't you agree?"

"Mr. Lodge?"