Sunday Afternoon
Jughead is not moping around the Andrews house, but if he was, he thinks he would be allowed just this once.
He also refuses to admit that he's jumped for his phone every time it's made any sort of sound. Part of him cannot believe he's actually upset he's missing a baby shower of all things and then there's part of him thinking he missed a bullet.
And if he tries to convince himself that the part of him that's upset about missing it is thinking about the food, well, he's always been decent at lying to himself.
He scrambles for his phone when, finally, the text message notification goes off. Archie is laughing at him, plucking at the strings of his guitar.
"Shut up, Arch," he groans out in irritation, trying to concentrate on the screen. Veronica?
Are you and Betty running late?
"What?" he mutters. "Me and Betty?"
He sends out a quick reply. What? I thought Betty would be with you?
"Something wrong, Jug?" Archie asks, setting his guitar down and moving to sit next to him.
"Veronica asked me if Betty and I were running late," he answers, confused. "Betty sort of, you know, uninvited me from the baby shower after our train wreck of a dinner."
"I can't possibly imagine why," Archie says under his breath.
Jughead rolls his eyes at him. "Yes, I could have handled it better and yes, it got me in a sort of fight with Betty, but you have to admit, Hiram Lodge is an asshole."
"That he is," Archie agrees. "Just be glad you're not dating Veronica-"
"I am. Every single day, my friend," Jughead interrupts.
"He was not pleasant about the 'you're dating my daughter, you better pray I don't kill you' speech," he continues as if Jughead hadn't spoken.
Distracted, Jughead is staring at his phone screen when another text pops up. What do you mean you thought Betty would be with me?
Furrowing his brow in confusion he responds quickly. Isn't she? I'm with Archie Maybe she went with her mom?
She doesn't reply for a few minutes and his stress levels seem to go up with each passing second.
Veronica? Is the only thing he manages to send before getting a text that makes him drop his phone and the color leave his face.
Archie looks cautious as he grabs his phone from the floor. Reading the text he hears him ask, "Jug, what does this mean?"
Grabbing his phone from Archie, he rereads the text, hoping he's misread it.
He hasn't.
Alice just showed up and said Betty said she was coming with me, that she saw her get into my car but she didn't come with me, I don't know where she is.
He calls Veronica so fast he can't even get the words out when she answers right away. "What- what do you mean you don't know where she is?"
Jughead can hear the panic in her voice as Archie starts asking him what's going on. Putting a hand up to him to make him shut up, he's having a hard time hearing Veronica over Alice leaving a frantic voicemail for Betty in the background.
"I mean, Jughead, that she didn't come with me, she didn't come with her mom, and she's not with you. Her mom said she got into the car with me, but that's not possible. Smithers drove me. I thought I was meeting Betty here."
Trying to regulate his breathing he closes his eyes and grips the phone so tightly he can hear the plastic parts of it squeak in protest. "Veronica, if Alice saw Betty getting into a car that looks like yours, is it safe to assume your father has access to another one?"
Jughead hears her suck in a sharp breath.
"You don't think- I mean, I know he was mad about last night but- oh god, Jughead what do we do?"
"I don't know," he starts to say but can't finish over the panic. He feels Archie take the phone and can vaguely hear what he's saying to Veronica on the other end.
"Ronnie, yeah, make sure your dad is there, if not, that's probably not a good sign. Yeah, I'll make sure he's okay. Talk to you later."
He's sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows supported by his knees as he puts his head down to try to think and breathe. Feeling Archie sit next to him, putting a hand on his back, he looks over at him.
"Ronnie is going to see if her dad is home then let us know. There's no need to panic if-"
"There is a definite need to panic, Archie. Betty got into a car and no one has heard from her since. I don't know if you know this, but in horror movies? That's not a good thing!"
"Jug, man, come on. We both know that Betty would be the kick ass blonde that survives the whole film, although aren't they usually virgins? Because sex apparently equals being murdered in movies," Archie tells him, a contemplative look on his face.
"I know you're trying to distract me, Arch, and that you mean well but you just inadvertently told me my girlfriend would die in a horror scenario because I've slept with her. That...that does not help, okay? Don't put that into my brain," Jughead implores, looking back down to stare at his phone like it has all the answers.
"Maybe I should call my dad? Or Kevin's?"
He sighs, not knowing what would help. "What do you think your dad or Sheriff Keller is going to accomplish?"
"I don't know, Jug," he answers him, shrugging and looking lost.
"I'm pretty sure the police can't do anything until she's been gone for twenty-four hours. And your dad? Man, he's barely been here for the last few weeks since he started that SoDale-" he cuts himself off. "He just wants to scare her. He can't possibly be stupid enough not to realize how easy it would be to implicate him, her parents have pictures of her being followed, they just sold the Register to him, there'd be too much circumstantial evidence to overlook which would just start making the police look closer at what he's been doing and he does not want that."
"We don't even know if he-"
"Of course he did, don't be stupid. Betty got into the car because she thought it was Veronica. So, the real question is, where would he take her and why?"
Summer 2010
Jughead can hear the quick stomping of Betty's shoes on the stairs, running her way to Archie's room. Before he can even pause the game he and Archie are playing, the door swings open and he sees a blur of blonde and pink before Betty steps over him to sit between him and Archie on the floor.
"If my mom asks, I'm not here," Betty tells them, grabbing Archie's controller, playing the game in his place.
Archie looks over at her confused. "So where are you, then?"
Betty shrugs. "Dunno. Not here." Her face turns intense in concentration, focused on the game she's now beating him at.
Jughead takes a quick look at her as she bites her lip in frustration as she almost blows herself up. "You're wearing your Nancy Drew clothes."
Betty nods, not looking at him. "Yeah, I was gonna use the new handbook my dad got me."
"Handbook?"
"Yeah!" she exclaims as an answer and in victory as she won the game, throwing the controller back to Archie. "Wanna see?"
"Sure," he says, seeing Archie roll his eyes. Betty making them play detectives isn't his favorite game.
She sees Archie's face and tells him, "You don't have to come, Arch."
Picking up the controller she threw at him, he looks relieved. "I'll see you guys later."
Sunday Afternoon
By the time Veronica arrives at the Andrews house, no one has heard from Betty, her phone is unresponsive, and Hiram Lodge is definitely nowhere to be found. Jughead finds her sitting on the stairs, staring at her phone screen.
"I think I'm missing messages," she whispers to him in a sad and tired voice. "Betty and I agreed to meet there, you know?" She turns to him and her eyes are red and for the first time since he's known her, her makeup is smudged. "I thought she was coming with you or her mom so I didn't talk to her this morning. But look-"
He takes the phone she's holding out and looks down at the screen. There's a message from Betty earlier responding to something that was no longer there. "Do you think your dad texted Betty from your phone to get her to expect a ride from you?"
"Am I a bad person for hoping he didn't?" she asks, her voice breaking by the end.
Jughead sighs and wraps an arm around her shoulder. "Nah, we all want to believe the best of our parents."
"He's a bad person, Jug," she tells him. "I know he is. No one's life has ever gotten better from knowing him."
"And he's still your father."
Veronica nods, her head falling down as the first tears trail down her cheeks. "Yeah, he's still my father."
His eyes are stinging and it's taking everything he has in him to be calm. "Where do you think your dad would take her?"
"I have no idea."
Summer 2010
"Come on, Juggie!"
He's trying to keep up with her, but she's always been faster than him. Racing toward where she said she hid her new book so her mom can't take it away he can see her blonde ponytail swinging as he falls behind her.
"Betts!" he calls, huffing and already sweating. "Slow down! You're too fast."
Slowing down and turning to look at him with her hands on her hips. "Maybe you're too slow."
Bending over, trying to catch his breath he silently agrees with her. "Okay, but I'm dying and you're just standing there."
"You're not dying, Jughead. Besides, you know I took a first aid course, I'll just have to, like, revive you or something."
"It's the 'or something' I'm worried about," he states, standing upright and stretching out the cramp he gave himself from running too fast.
"It's not even that far, how are you tired?"
"I was made for the indoors!"
"You come swimming with us all the time, you liar," Betty says, rolling her eyes at him.
"Betty, you're gonna be sorry when I die," he laments dramatically.
Huffing out a sigh, she walks back over to him. "Alright. We'll walk, you big baby."
"Thank god."
Sunday Afternoon
"Where's Alice?" Jughead asks.
Veronica, wiping her eyes, looks up at him. "She stayed with Polly at Thornhill. Polly's pretty upset about the whole thing and asked Alice to stay with her."
He just nods silently at that. If he was to take a guess he'd bet the guilt of sending Polly away was eating at Alice. Which it should if he was being honest, there was very little sympathy he could spare for the Cooper parents over the situations they create for themselves.
"Veronica, if you could guess where your dad would take Betty, where would it be?"
Shaking her head at him she starts crying more. "I don't know."
Jughead feels like he's going to go crazy if he doesn't start doing something soon. It's been easy to take a step back and try and keep Veronica from freaking out but his self control on that is quickly running out. "You know what? I can't do this anymore. Tell Archie I went out, okay?"
"Jug-"
"No, I can't be here waiting around, I just need to, I don't know, go think or something," he tells her, already up and heading towards the door.
Once he hits the cool air of the day he knows exactly where's going to go.
Summer 2010
Finally reaching their destination, Betty pulls out a book with a blue cover.
"See?" she asks, turning to face him with a bright smile. "Think of all the things we can learn now!"
"Like what?" he questions, taking the book from her and opening it. Skimming over a couple of pages he frowns and looks up at her. "Betts, this is about 'managing your hair when the convertible top is down'."
"What?"
"Yeah, and this part is 'how to tap out Morse Code using your high heels'," he tells her with distaste. "Aren't we supposed to be learning how to pick locks and karate chop someone in the throat?"
"High heels?" she asks him, the smile falling off her face. "Really?"
One of the only things Jughead can't stand in his nine years of life so far, aside from someone who thinks burgers aren't the best food in existence, is an upset Betty Cooper. "Well, okay, but look, this part is about 'thwarting a kidnapping'! That's gotta be helpful, right?"
Sunday Afternoon
Standing outside his dad's trailer door, he doesn't know yet what he's going to say. Knocking on the door, feeling like he couldn't walk right in anymore, there is a moment where he thinks he's going to stop breathing from the buildup of the last twenty-four hours. He'd exploded at Hiram Lodge, had an almost fight with Betty, sat around sullenly all morning until finding out his girlfriend has gone missing, probably taken by the man he provoked.
To say that Jughead felt like this whole thing was his fault is being a little bit generous. If something happens to her because he couldn't keep his mouth shut- no, he can't even do that to himself yet.
With no answer at the door, he tries the knob, finding it unlocked. Smart, Dad, he thinks as he steps into the trailer. It looks the same as the last time he saw it. Sad and alone and almost abandoned. If he was feeling more morose and less without a mission he might compare it to himself.
Finding no one in the trailer he turns to leave as he spots a motorcycle helmet on the kitchen table. Remembering there is an old bike under a tarp outside he grabs the helmet and spots keys he hopes work on the counter as he hurries out the door. If his dad isn't home and he's not working, there's only one place he would be.
The Whyte Wyrm.
Steeling himself, Jughead calls back all the lessons his less than sober father had given him about riding motorcycles, praying he doesn't crash before he gets to his destination.
Summer 2010
"Thwarting a kidnapping?" Betty asks him, twisting part of her ponytail around her finger. "I guess it's better than," she says, taking the book from him and looking at it, "'How to write SOS backward with lipstick'."
"Wouldn't that still be SOS?"
Betty just looks at him confused. "Maybe they mean, like, backwards letters?"
Jughead rolls his eyes at that. "Do you even have lipstick?"
"No, but I have a glue stick," Betty informs him primly, her annoyance at his tone clear.
Trying not laugh he looks at the book once more. "Don't glue sticks dry clear?"
Staring at him in indignation she tells him, "Maybe it's a secret SOS, Jug! You don't know everything."
Sensing she's fighting her own disappointment, he switches direction. "You know what would be really cool to have?"
"What?"
"One of those pens that record messages, like a spy pen."
Betty's eyes get a little brighter. "Yeah, that would be cool. Maybe I can ask for one for Christmas this year?"
Sunday Afternoon
Shakily getting off the motorcycle, Jughead vows to himself to never tell anyone how terrified he had been on the, admittedly short, ride to the Whyte Wyrm. Taking off the helmet and setting it on the seat of the bike, he braces himself as he walks in the door of the bar.
Looking for his dad as soon as he enters, he tries to avoid eye contact with anyone else, knowing that if they think he's looking for a challenge someone will be more than willing to start one. With his eyes sweeping across the bar, he spots a table of Serpents near the back and his shoulders fall a bit. He had been hoping to catch his dad alone.
Making his way to the back, he mentally checks himself to keep it together, especially for where he is at the moment.
Tapping him on the shoulder, he keeps his voice steady as he says, "Dad."
"Jug?" FP asks, turning around to face him.
"I need to talk to you," he tells him, tilting his head in indication that he wants to go outside. "Privately."
FP's eyes sharpen at his tone and he starts to stand when someone interjects, "Ahh, FP, you're not going to just jump because your boy says so, are you?"
Twisting to look at the person speaking, Jughead struggles to keep his mouth shut.
"Come on, Jug," his dad says, leading him out of the bar.
Once outside, FP notices the motorcycle. Jughead can hear him take a deep breath before facing him.
"You took the bike?"
"I have a good reason," he answers. "Hiram Lodge, Dad. I need to know what he hired you to do."
"You know what he wanted us to do. We did it and I haven't had any contact since," his dad tells him. "That's a promise, Jug. What's going on?"
"We're pretty sure Hiram Lodge took Betty earlier today," Jughead responds, his voice finally cracking. "And it's my fault."
Breaking down in the parking lot of a less than reputable bar isn't how he wanted his day to go but at the feel of his dad's arms coming around him, he lets go and starts crying into the leather of the Serpent jacket he's wearing.
"Why do you think it's your fault?" FP asks after waiting for him to catch his breath and calm down enough to speak.
"I knew Hiram Lodge was bad news, Betty knew it, too. And she asked me not to provoke him but I did it anyway."
"Well, you never were very good at controlling your mouth, Jug."
Wiping his eyes and standing straighter he lets out a small sad laugh. "Yeah, and you always told me it would bite me in the ass one day."
"No one's seen her? Heard from her?" his dad questions.
Shaking his head he scoffs. "Alice saw her get in what she thought was Veronica Lodge's car but Veronica never had plans to pick her up. Only one family in this town uses hired cars, Dad, you know that."
"Jug, it ain't your fault, you can't let that get to you, okay? Men like Hiram Lodge- they want your fear, your obedience. And the definitely don't do their own dirty work. I don't know what he'd want with her but I'd guess intimidation over violence."
"If anything-"
"Hey, she's gonna be fine," FP tells him, wrapping an arm around him.
Jughead can't focus past his own fears of something happening to her, ignoring the sounds of the parking lot around them. "You don't know that."
"Yeah, I do."
"What?" Jughead looks up at him, wondering why he's so confident in his words. Right now no one knows what's going to happen.
"Jug, we've both known Betty Cooper since she was nothing but a steel spine covered in pink ribbons and stubbornness. And," he turns him around to face the street, "I'm pretty sure that's your girl running this way."
His head jerks up and he looks out over the parking lot, finally registering the pounding footsteps of someone running as fast as they can. "Betty?!"
"Juggie!"
Summer 2010
"So, how does one thwart a kidnapper then?" Betty asks him, pulling out one of the contraband suckers Mrs. Andrews always sneaks her when she's over at Archie's from her pocket, handing it to him then pulling out another for herself.
"Hmm," he murmurs, reading the book while ripping off the candy wrapper and handing it to her. "It says to 'scream loudly and make a scene'-"
"At least no one will ever kidnap my mom then," Betty interrupts, looking at her sucker and scrunching her nose. Jughead knows she hates the purple ones so he pulls his own green one out of his mouth and trades her. "Thanks," she says, sticking it in her mouth, making sure to put both wrappers back in her pocket so she doesn't accidentally litter.
"Wow, there's a lot of hitting involved in this," he continues. "Slapping, scratching, or elbowing them. Oh, ouch, go for the groin. That would hurt."
"I think that's the point, Jug," Betty replies, sticking her tongue out to see if she can if it's gone green yet. It makes her go cross eyed and he laughs at the face she's making.
"Hey, it says here to go for the throat! See, so karate chopping the throat is a good idea."
Sunday Afternoon
He barely has time to brace himself before she throws herself into his arms, jumping as her legs go around his waist, head buried in the side of his neck, breathing hard and shaking. He's got one arm wrapped around her, holding her up and the other running over hair, touching her to make sure she's really there.
Jughead tightens his grip on her and whispers, "It's okay, baby, it'll be fine."
He can feel her nodding against his skin but he doesn't think she has any intention of letting him go any time soon. Turning to face his dad with Betty still in his arms, he looks at him, hoping for what, he doesn't know. Maybe some profound advice or answers to all of his questions but all he sees is his dad wearing a sad but satisfied expression as he tells him, "Get your girl home, Jug."
He nods at him. "Yeah. Alright. Let's go home, Betty." Walking over to the bike, he tries to set her down but her grip just tightens further. "You gotta let go so we can leave, baby, okay?" HIs voice is soft and gentle and it seems to convince her to finally let her feet touch the ground again.
Handing her the helmet, she just looks at him. "I could have sworn I wasn't gone long enough for you to have gotten a motorcycle?"
He smiles at her, gesturing to the helmet. "Put that on."
"What about you?" she asks, handing him the bag she had in her hand before putting it on and adjusting the strap to make sure it won't come off.
"Me?"
"I don't want your brain to become street pizza, Jug," she tells him in exasperation.
Jughead fights a grin as he looks at her and raises his eyebrow. "I guess I better be really careful then."
She exhales loudly and he knows he's won for the moment. "If this is something you're keeping, I better never ever see you without a helmet if you're on it again, okay?"
"Are you worried about me, Betty?"
"Of course I am, Jug, how could you ever think I wouldn't be?"
He throws her a smug smile, still relieved he can see and touch her. "I don't know Betty, you might like me reckless."
Rolling her eyes at him she points to the bike and he gets on it giving her the bag back and waiting for her to sit behind him, wrapping her arms tightly around his middle.
He won't tell her but he hopes his adrenaline lasts until they get back to the Andrews house because he's slightly worried that if it doesn't he's going to faint from sheer relief and then she'll definitely lecture him from the grave about helmets and brains as street pizza.
Sunday Afternoon
The first thing Betty sees as they pull up the to the Andrews house is Veronica running out of the door. There's almost no time to get the helmet off of her head before she's knocked to the ground under Veronica Lodge, who is crying and babbling into her shoulder, telling her how sorry she is.
"It's fine, V," Betty tells her. "It really is, it's not your fault."
Jughead moves to grab her to help her up and Archie steps in to get Veronica up so they can head inside when she thinks about calling her mom.
"I need to call my mom," she says, pulling her phone out of her bag. Her mom answers on the first ring.
"Betty?!"
"Yeah, Mom, it's me."
"Are you okay? Where are you?"
"I'm at Archie's, Jughead brought me home," she sighs out, tired from the entire day.
"I'm on my way right now, okay? I'm bringing Polly with me."
"Alright. I'll see you when you get here."
"If you so much as move an eyelash from the Andrews, I want to know about it, do you understand me?"
"Sure, Mom, I'll talk to you later," Betty answers, hanging up before her mom had a chance to say anything else. Looking around at everyone else she just says, "Come on, I only want to tell this once."
Settled on the sofa in the living room, she has Veronica on one side, holding her hand and Jughead on the other, an arm wrapped around her and holding her other hand.
"So, this morning I got a text from Veronica-"
"Not me," Veronica whispered sadly.
"No, not you but I thought it was. So, once I got into the car-"
Sunday Afternoon
"Mr. Lodge?" Betty asks, bewildered. "Where's Veronica?"
"I do apologize for the method in which I got you here but Veronica has no idea of this meeting," he tells her, looking like he might actually be almost apologetic.
"What do you want?"
"I just want to talk, that's all," he says before gesturing to the driver- not Smithers -to drive. "You, Miss Cooper, are both resourceful and stubborn and usually I like those qualities but I don't want you to cross a line you can't uncross."
"Are you- are you threatening me more?"
"More?"
"Yeah, the pictures you had taken of me to force my parents to sell their paper?"
He's smarmy in his smirk when he replies, "Scare tactics, really. Effective but I assure you, I had no intention of hurting you. Not when my little girl cares for you so much."
"So, what do you want from me?"
"I want you, Miss Cooper, to see my vision for Riverdale," he says, gesturing to the town passing by as they drive along. "Think of the possibilities; new stores, new housing, a profitable prison to keep us all safe-"
"A for profit prison?" Betty interrupts, incredulous. He cannot be serious.
"Think of the jobs it would bring. Riverdale could thrive. It could make its mark on small town America, give the other towns something to strive for."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"Everything, Miss Cooper. And nothing at all."
Oh, he's being cryptic, she thinks. That's not worrisome at all. "I don't get it." She knows she's only going to get one chance to grab her phone when the idea strikes. Reaching for it, she gets her hand in and wrapped around her goal when he takes the bag from her, setting it down next to him on the seat.
He sighs at her. "I expected better from you, Miss Cooper, you know."
"Why?"
"You knew that wasn't going to work and you still went for it anyhow. Tenacity, I like. Stupidity, not so much."
"I had to try, didn't I?"
He laughs. "I suppose you did. So, let me take you through my plan and then we'll talk details, yes?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"No," he tells her before directing the driver to the Southside. "Oh, I do want to thank you, though, for helping me with my Clifford Blossom problem. I didn't even have to do anything other than harbor a couple of runaways. You, and that boyfriend of yours, ended my problem and kept me completely out of it. I was almost proud of the both of you if I'm being honest."
"Almost?"
"You have the capacity to become quite the thorn in my side, you know. With your guard dog boyfriend and stubborn nature, I'm sure you'll want to make waves for me."
"But you've already bought the Twilight-"
"Yes, and someone burned it down, costing me time and money."
"So, you didn't hire the Serpents to burn it down?"
"Why would I do that? The Serpents served their purpose and I have no more use for them," he says, looking out of the car window.
"What do you want with me, Mr. Lodge?"
"Miss Cooper, I want you to see my vision for this town," he tells her, asking the driver to stop. They're at the SoDale project? What?
"Just look around you," Hiram insists, pointing out to the construction.
Following his line of sight, she looks. She still doesn't get what he wants with her but she stops to listen because fighting him isn't going to get her out of this predicament.
So she listens. He's taking her to each site he either owns or plans to buy, the Twilight, Southside High, even a detour to Pop's he explains- that one was shocking to her, Pop's shouldn't be in the hands of the likes of Hiram Lodge- and finally the Whyte Wyrm. He tells her that controlling where the crime comes from means safety for the town residents.
She doesn't say how he seems to be the most dangerous thing in Riverdale.
He's been long winded and self important and she wonders more than once how someone like Veronica came from this man. She wants him talking, though. Betty wants to hear all of his dirty secrets, it's the key to taking him down.
"And what happens when the people disagree with your vision?" she asks, looking at him in the eye.
"People just need to be convinced. And when you can't convince them, you control them."
"What does that mean?"
"Did you know, Miss Cooper, that there's a mayoral election coming up?"
Betty is confused. "What? No, there's-"
"Oh, let me say that again. There will be a mayoral election coming up," he explains. "When the Mayor and the Sheriff are having an affair, it gives one a bit of leverage."
"Why are you telling me all of this? Aren't you worried I'm going to go straight to the Sheriff with this information?"
He looks at her, smirking. "What crime have I admitted to? Information and goals are not crimes."
"But you confessed to hiring the Serpents! And knowing about Clifford Blossom," she exclaims.
"Clifford Blossom? I'm just a concerned citizen about the drug problem in our fair Riverdale, I'm just glad you got to him first," Hiram tells her. "And the Serpents? I won't have an issue avoiding any consequences for their petty crimes but will they? Will Jughead's father?"
And there it is, she thinks. The carrot.
He sees when she gets it. His smile widens and he leans toward her a little bit. "The thing is, Miss Cooper, I can make their lives so much easier. Or so, so much harder. What do you think you'll prefer?"
"What are you saying?"
"The chances of you getting out of Riverdale for college is what? Pretty high, I assume. Now, let's think about your dear Jughead. Do you really think he's getting out of this town? He doesn't apply himself in school. His family can't provide. And student loans? You really think someone with as much pride as Jughead Jones is going to become indebted to anyone willingly?" he tells her. "Wouldn't it be better if FP Jones and his son had comfortable and safe housing? If, somehow, Jughead gets a grant for his schooling? Say, a scholarship to whatever fine institution you find yourself at?"
Betty's eyes go wide. "You're trying to buy me."
"Not buy. Motivate."
Reaching the corner where the Whyte Wyrm is located she turns and sees Jughead standing there with his father.
This is her chance. Her only chance.
Suddenly a memory of her and Jughead playing Nancy Drew pops into her head and she hears the Jughead of her memory telling her to go for the throat. So that's what she does while the car is idling on the street at a stop sign, waiting for another car to move. In one motion she throws the side of her hand into the center of his throat, grabs her bag, and opens the door, stumbling out of the car and running as fast as she can towards Jughead.
She never looks back.
Sunday Evening
It takes him hours to get her alone after her explanation, her reunion with Polly and her mom. Her dad being out of town had meant a phone call that had her exhausted by the end of it and adding in Veronica's overwhelming guilt and constant apologies, he ends up becoming almost desperate to get her alone.
Archie squeezes her in a hug that went on just long enough to make him slightly nervous even though he knows there's nothing there, he's well aware that may be a sore point for a while longer yet.
He feels better when she immediately throws herself back into his arms after, when it's quiet and it can be just him and her. Alice had taken Polly back to Thornhill so they manage to sneak out and make their way to the treehouse, just missing Fred coming home from spending another Sunday catching up on paperwork at his office.
In the treehouse, he pulls her down and into his lap, burying his face into her hair and breathing her in with his arms tight around her.
"My day sucked, how about yours?"
She laughs lightly against him. "Yeah. Sucked pretty bad there for awhile, I have to admit."
"He didn't hurt you? Didn't try to?" he asks her, settling her further between his knees so she can lean back against him.
"No, but Jug, he's delusional or something. Or maybe he's not. I'm not sure but I know he wants to own the town. To run Riverdale," she answers. "Did you know Mayor McCoy and Sheriff Keller are having an affair?"
"What?"
"Mmhmm. I don't know how I'm supposed to handle that. Do I tell Kevin? Do I not tell him?"
Jughead sighs in frustration. "I have no idea, Betts."
"He wanted to buy us, Jug. Buy our compliance, our silence."
"Yeah, I know. He's wrong by the way. I would take loans to get out of Riverdale and there's enough time for me to get my grades up to maybe qualify for some scholarships or grants."
"You can do it, Jug, I know you can. You're so smart, you just need to start putting more effort into it," she says, laying her head against his collar bone.
He exhales into her hair. "Finding out you were missing, Betty, was one of the worst moments of my life."
"If it helps, it wasn't one of my better moments when I realized Hiram Lodge was in that car and not Veronica."
"I bet."
She turns around, setting herself on her knees and looking at him in earnest. "I have something I want to show-"
He can't help himself as he cuts her off, grasping each side of her face, bringing her forward to press his lips to hers. Holding her face still, he slips his tongue into her mouth, making her hands come around to hold onto his back. The soft slide of her tongue on his right before she sucks on his lower lip has him sitting up without breaking the kiss, moving her to lay on her back on the floor of the treehouse.
Slotting himself between her thighs he lays on top of her, putting his hands into her hair, pushing it back off of her face, looking down into her eyes. "We need to get out of this town, Betty."
"We will," she tells him and it sounds like a promise.
He kisses her again, pushing his hips into her as her legs come up and wrap around his hips. She pulls back and he sees her soft eyes and swollen lips and he think he falls in love with her all over again.
"I'm sorry," he whispers to her before leaning to kiss her on the forehead.
Betty looks up at him, confused. "Why?"
"I shouldn't have let Hiram Lodge provoke me, maybe if I hadn't he wouldn't have-" he cuts himself off, choked up again over the fear he felt earlier in the day.
"Hey, it's not your fault. I mean, yes, you shouldn't have let him provoke you but me believing you'd be able to be quiet is like me being surprised that pouring gasoline on a fire makes it get bigger. None of us used common sense."
"Still-"
"No, no more blaming yourself for someone else's choices. Now, I vote we defile the sanctity of this treehouse but if you'd rather talk about your feelings-"
He cuts her off with another kiss, sliding his tongue back in her mouth when she starts giggling at him. Her giggles turn into a soft moan quickly as he grinds down onto her. "The treehouse, really?" he asks as he pulls back and sits up on his knees.
"Well, we can go back to my house-"
"No."
"Or we can go to Archie's-"
"No."
She's laughing at him, looking up from where she's laying and he starts laughing with her. "Unless you don't want to, of course."
He glares at her. "You know that I do. How could I not?" Pulling his shirt over his head he shivers from the chill in the air. "Holy shit, it's cold, Betty."
"Details," she tells him, pulling on her own shirt, sitting up to get it over her head. Her bra isn't really visible in the dark but he thinks there's lace on it. He sighs to himself, oh how he's learned to love lace.
Reaching for the button on her jeans, he undoes it and starts shimmying them down her legs as kicks her shoes off. By the time he's at her ankles he can see the goosebumps from the cold all over her legs. Taking her pants off the rest of the way and dropping them to the side, he slips her socks off presses a soft kiss to her left ankle, then another a little higher.
He follows the line of her leg, running his lips over her calf, her knee, her thigh, all the way up to her hip bone, taking the waistband of her panties with his fingers and pulling them down pressing parallel kisses back down the line of her right leg. Tossing them on top of her jeans, he crawls back up between her thighs, laying down and settling her legs on his shoulders before he runs his tongue along her slit, using more pressure when he gets to her clit.
Betty lifts her hips with a moan and he puts a hand flat on her abdomen to hold her in place. Applying a little pressure to make sure she knows he wants her still her legs fall open slightly as keeps firm pressure on her clit while sliding a finger into her.
He's thankful there's no one around to hear her loud moan as he slides a second finger into her, thrusting them back and forth with the motion of his tongue. Her hand grips his hair as her hips try to jerk up as he keeps his hand pressed against her.
Trying not to get clocked upside the head by the jerking motion of her knees, he speeds up his movements to the sounds of her moaning and the feel of her toes curling into the skin of his back. It's not long until she's groaning his name out into the dark of the night and he's working her through her orgasm until she's pushing him off of her, an arm going up to cover her eyes while she catches her breath.
"Did you enjoy that?" he asks her while rubbing his palm across his chin, wiping his face off.
She lets out a breathy laugh and kicks at him with her arm still over her eyes. Grabbing her foot as she misses him he tells her, "Your aim is terrible."
"Shut up, Jug," she says before uncovering her eyes and giving him a satisfied smile. "Come on, I know you're keeping a condom in your wallet like the stereotypical teenage boy you are. Let's make sure it gets used before it expires."
He smirks at her, still pleased with himself for not coming in his own pants again. "We wouldn't want to be wasteful, now would we?"
"Of course not," Betty tells him, reaching out towards the waist of his jeans but he's beaten her to it, already sliding them, along with his boxers, down to the middle of his thighs. Grabbing for his wallet he pulls out the package, opening it and sliding it onto himself. Settling back over her as her legs come back around his hips, he jolts a little when he feels her hand on him, guiding him as he slides into her.
He takes a deep breath to help him keep his control as he starts thrusting in and out of her. When her legs tighten more, his hips stutter against her for a second as the movement pulls him in deeper. They're wrapped around one another as much as possible, panting into each other's ears, kissing bare skin when they can think enough to do it, whispering words of love to one another, the weight of the day hitting them when they realize how very wrong it could have all gone.
If he were keeping track of how long he's been lasting each time, he thinks this one might have actually impressed him as he feels the pleasure build and his body shiver as he forgets himself and slams into her as he comes.
He's worried he hurt her but he relaxes at the loud moan that comes out with each new harder thrust.
Laying on her, he's catching his breath as he hears her whisper, "You should do that more often."
"Oh yeah?"
"Mmhmm. I think I could eventually come that way."
Both of his eyebrows shoot up at that and suddenly he has a new life goal. "I think we can work something out, then."
It's less than five minutes later when they're dressed and dreading leaving each other for the night that she turns to him with big, excited eyes. "I tried to tell you earlier but you distracted me with sex-"
"I didn't hear you complaining," he interrupts, smiling at her.
"No, look!" she exclaim as she reaches for the bag she had only let go of long enough to let him hold it in the parking lot of the Whyte Wyrm. She pulls out something he's seen before and he sits up straighter as he reaches for what she's got in her hand.
"Is this what I think it is?"
Betty nods at him, one of the biggest smiles he's ever seen crossing her face.
Christmas 2010
"Jug!" Betty yells at him, running across the yard to where he and Archie are playing in the snow with Archie's new sled.
"What?" he asks, meeting her in the middle to see what she's so excited about.
"My parents actually got it for me," she says, breathless, as she hands him what she has in her hand.
His eyes go big with recognition and he looks at her in awe. "Is this-"
"Yes!" she exclaims happily. "It's the recorder pen I wanted."