Hello! Sorry that I haven't updated in a while: I've been trying to clear my head, and have been enjoying the last few bits of summer. Please enjoy this next part! Read, review, and share. Thank you guys so much for the overwhelming support! Again, I don't own Riverdale. Also: who heard about the Sprousehart news? Personally, I just hope they both receive some privacy and I hope they are happy and maintain a friendly relationship no matter what. Sorry, that was off topic, but I would love to hear how you feel about it! ENJOY :)

Jughead Jones sat inside his car for a good 15 minutes, merely contemplating what he'd just seen. Should he believe it? In the back of his mind, he even began thinking, is she worth it?

Because although Betty made him feel something unexplainable and raw, she wasn't there for him in the way he wanted her to be when he moved away. A part of him always resented the blonde for not chasing after him with some grand gesture of love. Yes, it may be selfish, but Jughead believed under his circumstances, he was allowed to be selfish. He had gone to hell and back, what with his father, mother, and mindless bullies back in Toledo. And so, Jughead started driving back to his ratty trailer, sure that Betty was happy and that he would have less trouble without Betty in his life.

Betty, on the other hand, was not amused by the red haired man trying to flirt with her on the way home. She was walking home from a Vixens practice, tired, sweaty, and thoroughly annoyed with Cheryl Blossom, when Archie Andrews (fresh out of football practice) decided that he wanted to walk home with her. She felt an urgent need to be courteous due to Alice's strict breeding of a perfect daughter, so Betty reluctantly allowed him to, although she had not spoken or even given a thought to Archie in 3 years, ever since Jughead Jones took her to Homecoming.

It was too hard to think about Jughead after all this time. How is it possible that a boy she merely danced with caused her so much pain? Who am I kidding, Betty thought. We all know he was more than a friend to me.

Because unlike Archie, Jughead could sense the smallest things about her, even when they were younger. He knew from a simple, nervous lip bite of hers that she was uncomfortable in a conversation. When her shoulders were tense and her fingernails curled into her palm forcefully, he knew to come over and uncurl her hands and tell her that everything would be okay. Sometimes, she would let out a long, shaky breath, and cry into his shoulder when the darkness inside her became overwhelming. It was during these instances she would feel an inexplicable warmth and comfort in the beanie clad boy, something she later identified as love. But in an instant, he was gone, and her fingernails dug and dug and dug into her skin until the scars would be inescapable.

Safe to say, she missed him. But she knew he probably ran away from her, from their town. It's not that she was repulsive, no, it was because he couldn't handle the whispers from the residents of this utopian suburbia about his alcoholic father. She always knew that he felt like he was her charity case because of his rough background and her seemingly perfect upbringing, but that was far from true. Eventually, she sensed him pulling away, a defense mechanism for the hurt his father inflicted upon him, and although she tried to reel him back in, it wasn't enough, and he broke. At least, that's what Betty believed. There was this overbearing weight on Betty's shoulders, telling her that she was the reason he ran away. She should have tried harder. Her eyes welled with tears, and she felt her fingernails find their way to her palm without Jughead there to uncurl the wicked digits.

In reality though, Betty slapped on a smile and went through life as a mannequin of herself. She tried to act like the loss of Jughead didn't faze her; she became head River Vixen (before Cheryl got jealous and threatened everyone into voting for her), she began looking at colleges, and she immersed herself in journalism at the Blue and Gold and at the Register. But when Archie Andrews decided to hold her hand when they reached the door of her house after practice and tell her that he thinks they would be the ultimate power couple, Betty tried to snatch her hand away. Jughead's disappearance may have damaged her beyond repair, but she wouldn't let it take away her opinions and choices. She smiled a tense smile at the redhead and refused his advancements. It was too soon, anyways. She could never love someone the way she loved Jughead. It would surely break her.

Little did she know that Jughead was looking out the window of his car at the exact moment Archie was holding her hand and she was smiling (and from afar, it may not seem tense at all). He began driving towards his trailer after that, but decided to go to Pop's. He thought it would be a safe place to let his numbness take over.

Fate enjoyed cruel kindness, but Betty wasn't aware of that until she opened the door to Pop's and found Jughead there, gripping his milkshake as if he wanted the glass to disintegrate.

Betty's legs almost gave out. He was sitting in the back of the diner, nearly hidden from sight. She studied him a bit. He was taller, rougher around the edges, and still wearing his infamous beanie. While she still saw the Jughead she remembered in his beautiful, black hair and piercing blue eyes, she saw that he… matured well, to say the least. Once scrawny, Jughead packed on some lean muscle; not too obvious, but obvious enough for Betty to see. She could tell from his expression that he was angry, but under that was a twinge of sadness. Leave it up to Riverdale's own Holden Caulfield to be dramatic, even after his 3 year disappearance, Betty thought fondly. Yes, she was angry at him for leaving her defenseless and letting her inner darkness win, but underneath the anger was the steady heartbeat of her love for him. She was nervous, but holy shit, she was excited.

Maybe this was fate's way of throwing them back together.

She walked towards him tentatively, throwing on the most genuine smile she's given in a while. Without his permission, she sat across from him in his booth, and said, "Long time no see, Jughead."

Instead of seeing pure joy or even just a sprinkle of a smile, she was greeted with a very welcoming, "What the hell, Betty?"

He gathered his things and stormed out the door. Betty's smile turned into a frown, and she sat there, thoroughly confused for the rest of the night.

Well, that's a wrap for this chapter! No worries, they will sort things out in a while. Good things come for those who wait ;)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review: they keep me motivated :)