Betty rolled over in her bed, pulling her comforter higher and sinking into her pillow willing her mind to go back to sleep, she heard a faint buzzing that pulled her mind out of her sleep, she blinked her eyes a few time, finally realizing it was her phone ringing, she reached her hand blindly into the dark feeling around her night stand until she felt it, pulling it up the light from the call illuminating her room and making her squint, the small crown emoji waking her up more as she scrambled to answer it.
"Hello?" She whispered, having trouble finding her voice through her sleepy haze, she looked to the small clock next to her bed reading 3:12 am.
"Hey beautiful," His voice was far too awake for the time.
"What's going on?" She asked confused, rolling onto her back and stifling a yawn, that led to a small squeak and she cringed, pulling the phone away a little hoping he didn't hear.
"Did I wake you?" He asked concerned.
"Well yeah, it's 3 in the morning and I have school," She laughed tiredly.
"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't think that through," He sighed his voice quiet.
"It's okay," She mumbled having trouble keeping her eyes open, so she let them close.
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," He trailed off seeming like he wasn't done talking but he didn't continue.
"Yeah, I'm okay, just drained but okay," She smiled into the darkness.
"I hate having to do this, but I just needed to tell you that I need you to be on alert for anything out of the ordinary," His voice got stern and the hair on the back of her neck stood slightly making her shiver.
"Why? What's wrong?" She asked not really sure she wanted the answer.
"Just be very aware, can you do that for me?" His voice softened a little but stayed commanding.
"Yeah sure, I can do that," She sighed sleepily.
"Just go to school, and straight home, at least until I get back," He instructed.
"Juggie, I have to work, and I have cheer," She explained her mind fighting off falling back asleep as she woke up a little more.
"Shit, you're a cheerleader?" He asked laughing lightly.
"Yes," She nodded even though he couldn't see her.
"So you have like a full outfit?" He asked his voice getting playful, a full contrast to his worried tone earlier.
"Yes I have a cheer uniform," She rolled onto her side placing the phone between her head and the pillow.
"Fuck.." He got oddly quiet.
"What?" She asked feeling oddly annoyed that he was making it such a big deal.
"Nothing sorry, I'm just imagining… Nevermind," He sighed audibly. Betty finally caught on to where he was going.
"You want me to wear it for you?" She smirked, feeling oddly confident in her tired state.
"Fuck yes," He laughed "Shit Betty, I need to fucking focus right now, this is not helping."
"We can pretend this conversation never happened," She sighed playfully.
"No! No, I don't want to forget this, but I need to save it for when I'm home and can be there to keep you safe," He said, his words making her entire body heat up as she shifted under her covers.
"Am I not safe?" She asked fear mixing with her butterflies.
"I… I don't know yet, I'm going to have fangs and Joaquin looking out for you so don't be surprised if you see them around, but no walking anywhere to like work or anything. If you need a ride you tell me and I will have one of them get you," He explained, huffing into the phone after he spoke.
"Okay, okay I'll get a ride, is this that serious?" She could feel his desperation through the phone and it was making her panic slightly having no idea what was going on.
"I can't be sure yet, I hope not, but I'm not taking any chances," He said sternly, making her aware that there was no arguing with him.
"Okay I'll do what you say," She sighed enjoying hearing his voice but also wanting so badly to fall back asleep.
"Thank you, I'm so fucking sorry for dragging you into this," His voice sad and exhausted.
"It's okay I'm sure it will be fine," She reassured him.
"Go back to sleep, I'll talk to you later okay?"
"Mkay…. Goodnight Jug," she felt her head getting heavy as it pressed further into the phone, her eyes still closed as she started falling asleep already.
"Goodnight little one.." His voice faded as her mind drifted off back into a heavy sleep.
Betty's alarm rang impossibly close to her head, jolting her up in a panic as she sat up in bed sucking in a sharp breath. She fell back onto her pillow, staring up at her ceiling, her heart rate slowing down slightly, she grabbed her phone from her pillow turning off her alarm and staring at the screen, she opened her phone, the phone call from earlier coming back to her, her anxiety spiking as she remembered how worried Jughead had sounded. She went to her call log to make sure it hadn't just been a dream, and her eyes went wide as she looked at the time realizing the call had lasted over two hours, meaning when she had fallen asleep he hadn't hung up, he had stayed on the phone while she slept. She melted a little, her heart feeling so much emotion she could hardly stand it, any doubt she had that he actually cared completely vanished with the proof that he was obviously worried enough to just listen to her sleep. She had seen so much of his life over the past few days, and she was still trying to figure him out, but that gesture seemed to stick with her, no matter how dangerous he was to the rest of the world, he wasn't with her, and the gravity of that made her heart pound as she crawled out of bed and started getting ready for school, she checked her phone an impossible amount of times, trying to decide if she should text him or not, but she had an odd gut feeling that even though she had all the time in the world to text him back and forth, he probably didn't, so she decided not to, to wait patiently and show him that she could be supportive in his life and not be a nuisance. She got ready quickly, pulling on jeans and floral button down shirt, throwing on a little make up and brushing her teeth before grabbing a grey hooded peacoat after checking the weather and seeing that it was still going to be cold and possibly rain, she threw her school bag over her shoulder and started out of her room, bounding quickly down the stairs, she walked into the kitchen, setting her bag on the counter and going to pull her hair up but stopping half way through, letting her blonde locks fall back over her shoulders, deciding a new look never hurt, she was running a little late and didn't have time for food and she didn't see her mom anywhere, so she grabbed an apple from the bowl that was filled with fruit on the table and headed for the front door, closing it behind her and locking it, she turned, freezing for a second as she remembered her promise to Jughead that she wouldn't walk anywhere, but surely he had just meant to her work which happened to be on the Southside, her school was only about a 10 minute walk from her house and that wasn't enough of a distance to worry, she was sure. She shrugged to herself and walked down her lawn, turning on the sidewalk and making her way to school. She did keep her promise however of being aware as she watched every car that passed carefully, even looking behind her probably far too often. She finally reached her school, not realizing how much anxiety it was going to give her to walk, Jughead's words from the night before sitting in her gut, but she shook it off knowing he was probably just being overprotective and worrying about nothing, she stepped through the large front doors and was instantly transported back into her normal life as she looked around at all the familiar faces, letting her surroundings calm her back down. She quickly hurried to her locker, opening it up and setting some of her books inside.
"Goooooood morning," Kevin sang from behind her open locker door, startling her, making her yelp and drop one of the books in her hand. "Sorry," Kevin mumbled leaning down and picking it up for her, eyeing her suspiciously, "You okay?"
"Yeah just tired, and a little jumpy," She looked at him meaningfully. "Jug told me to be cautious," She sighed honestly.
"Shit that doesn't sound good," He looked at her with wide eyes handing her the book.
"Yeah I guess not, honestly I'm sure it's nothing… but it's still kinda put me on edge," She looked behind Kevin seeing Archie going to his locker and her heart sped up not knowing how she was supposed to react, he looked up making eye contact with her and smiling slightly with a nod, she smiled back, and Kevin turned his head watching as Archie started opening his locker, shoving a gym bag in and closing it before turning and walking away.
"So I see that was handled at least," He turned back to her raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," She answered not really knowing what else to say.
"And how did that go?" He pushed further.
"As well as expected, I don't know, I think it will blow over," She said feeling tired of the whole situation.
"Well that's good," Kevin smiled, seeming to sense that she wanted him to drop it. They walked in an awkward silence to their home room.
The rest of the day went by quickly, and Betty did her best to focus on school and let it take her mind off of everything which worked surprisingly well. The final bell rang and she started for the front of the school feeling lighter and already in a better mood. She walked home the the same way she had came, still staying alert but feeling less anxious his words losing their effect. When she finally stepped through her front door, she felt almost as if the fear she had felt earlier had all been for nothing, she bounded up the stairs and threw herself on her bed pulling out her phone and mindlessly looking through her instagram letting her brain wind down before she started on her homework, she checked her messages several times but had nothing from Jughead, which she convinced herself was probably just because he was too busy. The next few days went exactly the same until Thursday rolled around when she knew she had to get to work, and asked her mom if she could borrow the car, her mom had explained she needed it for a meeting at town hall but could give her a ride. Alice drove her after cheer practice to Dairy Dreams telling her to have a good night, Betty got out of the car smiling and waving before walking through the well lit door of her work, she smiled at Aubrey who was there behind the counter, and made her way to the back.
"Hey," The girl smiled, as Betty went to clock in "Get ready for a long night, it's been so dead today," she laughed.
"Oh yay," Betty laughed sarcastically rolling her eyes.
"So we never really got to talk after last week…" Aubrey trailed off walking back into the employees only area, Betty following closely on her tail.
"Oh yeah, that…" Betty laughed nervously.
"Why was Jughead Jones looking at you like you were a full on snack," She eyed her somewhat playfully, making Betty blush.
"You cannot tell anyone, but I think we might kind of be dating," Betty looked down at her feet, the words making her blush harder, she looked up to see Aubrey's jaw had fallen open in shock.
"Holy shit, I was expecting a much different story... dating?!" She practically yelled.
"I mean, I don't know if I'd call it that yet, but something like it I guess," Betty stammered out still feeling unsure of the whole thing herself and having no idea how to explain it to someone else.
"What about Archie?" She asked, watching Betty.
"I broke things off," Betty mumbled in reply.
"For Jones?" Aubrey crossed her arms over her chest, smiling wickedly.
"Maybe…." Betty blushed shyly.
"Well color me shocked, miss good girl Betty Cooper," Aubrey laughed. "So Jughead Serpent-Leader Jones?" Aubrey shook her head, still smiling
"I don't know what I'm doing," Betty laughed, dropping her face in her hands.
"What is he like?' Aubrey asked leaning on their shelves full of toppings.
"Not at all what you'd expect," Betty looked up at her enjoying being able to talk about this with her.
"Just be careful, I've heard a lot of stories…" Aubrey trailed off giving her a pointed look. "He is a notorious wild card, and kind of player Betty," She warned.
"I know, kind of, but he seems different then what people talk about," Betty tried not to sound too defensive not wanting to make a fool of herself, she was aware that Aubrey only meant well, and knew more about the Serpents than Betty did.
"Well like I said, just be careful, I have to run though will you be okay?" Betty nodded at her words and watched as the girl got her stuff together, before leaving.
The girl was right it was a slow night, no one had even come in since Betty had gotten there, so when the door chime went off she rushed out to greet them, excited to have something to do. A man dressed in all black all the way down to his baseball cap walked in and nodded as she welcomed him. He went immediately to the machines along the wall, filling up a cup and making his way to the register.
"How is your night going?" Betty asked politely after giving him his total and waiting for him to get out money.
"Good, yours?" He asked, handing her cash.
"Good, just a slow night," She laughed.
"You don't have a name tag," he replied, making her eyes snap up to him, an uneasy feeling traveling up her spine.
"Oh I must have forgotten it," She shrugged.
"What is your name?" He asked smiling politely. She hesitated for a minute, the feeling not leaving her that something was off.
"Betty," She finally smiled deciding she had to keep it professional.
"Thank you, Betty," The man nodded taking the spoon and heading to an empty table and sitting down, she figured the encounter was innocent enough but when he didn't leave right away she hurried to the back grabbing making sure the back door was locked, and going to get her phone from her bag, cursing under her breath when she realized she didn't have Joaquin's number, she went to open a message to Jughead, before pausing, she didn't want to worry him over nothing, and couldn't decide yet if she was just being dramatic. The door chimed again and Betty watched on the camera's from the back as another man walked in not even looking to the registers but going straight to the man who was sitting, she watched as the man she had helped nodded, her fear spiking again, she reached for her phone again not letting her eyes leave the cameras. As if on cue, the door opened again and she let out a loud exhale as she recognized the boy walking in relief flooding her as practically ran out to the register meeting Fang's right as he reached the counter.
"Hey Betty," He smiled casually.
"Fangs, what are you doing here?" She asked the relief obvious in her voice.
"Just doing my job," He shrugged leaning on the counter, looking over to the two men who were eyeing him carefully, he nodded at them smirking before turning back to her. "Got any new flavors?" He asked casually.
"Yeah we do, you are more than welcome to grab something, it's on me," She smiled politely.
"Nah, I'm good right here," He looked at her speaking more with his eyes than his words, the front door opened again and two more Serpents walked in one of them laughing and talking loudly to the other, making their way to the register where Fangs stood.
"Hey Boyo," One of the older ones said in a heavy Irish accent, slapping Fangs shoulder, Betty recognized him from the other night, he had been one of the men that had helped Sweet Pea carry out the case she had seen. "Nice to meet you lass, I'm Ace," He held out his hand to her, she took it shaking it lightly, "This here is Happy," He hooked his thumb over his shoulder at the other man, who stood quietly his arms crossed over his chest, the man grunted lightly and nodded.
"Nice to meet you," Betty smiled warmly, "Can I get you guys anything?" She asked in her overly sweet customer service voice, still being stuck in work mode.
"No, we are good, trying to lay off the sweets," Ace laughed patting his belly.
"Can I just just eat gummy bears?" The man behind him spoke up, his voice impossibly gruff.
"Um sure, just grab a cup," Betty smile while the other two gave him glares.
"What? They have the best Gummy Bears," Happy rolled his eyes, turning and walking to the cups display and heading to the topping bar, filling it up with just the colorful bears.
"He is right, they are the best," Betty shrugged, not even bothering to hand him a spoon but waving him off when he tried to pay. Ace and Happy made their way to a table, sitting down and talking amongst themselves while Fangs stayed with Betty. It suddenly dawned on her how quickly they had all showed up. "Have you been following me?" She whispered, leaning closer and eying fangs carefully. He just shrugged.
"Like I said.. Just doing my job," He smiled at her, making her shiver slightly, Jughead had told her to be aware at yet somehow she hadn't noticed at all that she was being followed even if it was by friends, she made a mental note to get significantly better at being more careful.
"So I'm not crazy then… those guys were weird," She whispered making sure only he could hear.
"Definitely suspicious, yeah, but we are here now," He nodded reassuringly, leaning on the counter and pulling out his phone.
"Have you been following me all week?" She asked suddenly, pulling his attention back to her, he seemed to hesitate for a minute before just nodding. "I'm guessing you're not going to tell me why…" Betty sighed already knowing the answer.
"That's up to Jones, if he wants to tell you, he will," Fangs said flatly looking back down to his phone.
"Are you texting him right now?" She pressed, feeling nosey but she hadn't heard from him in a few days and was getting antsy.
"Yeah," Fangs looked up eyeing her carefully, "Want me to tell him you said hi?" he laughed.
"No," She shook her head, not wanting to come off as needy. "I was just curious," she shrugged.
"Well don't mind us, we'll be here for the night," He sounded somewhat tired, but closed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket forcing a smile.
"I'm sorry you are on babysitting duty because of me," She tried, feeling guilty that his night would end up being so boring.
"Eh, trust me it's not the worst thing I've had to do, besides Happy got candy, so he'll be… well happy," Fangs laughed playfully slapping his hand onto the counter before turning and walking to where the other serpents were sitting. Betty stood at the counter just watching them for another minute before walking to the back, she stared at the camera's completely engrossed in watching the boys talk and laugh, having a hard time grasping that this was all because of her, and that her safety was so important to Jughead that she basically had a security detail. She stayed watching the camera's doing her best to read their lips but couldn't seem to make out anything, it wasn't long before the other two men got up and left without a word but not before eyeing the serpents carefully. Betty let out a long exhale trying to come to terms with the situation. She had never in all her life expected to face these types of things, she knew a life being connected to the serpents wasn't exactly going to be a walk in the park but she had grossly underestimated how scary it was going to be and this was just week one, a shiver flew down her spine making her shake, but she shook it off the only thing making her feel better was that Jug would hopefully be home soon, but the nervousness that erupted in her stomach over the thought made her head spin, she decided she had to keep herself busy or she was going to get too lost in her own mind, she grabbed a broom and started sweeping. She started her closing procedures a little early doing everything in far too much detail keeping her mind occupied. Eventually it was time to lock up and mop so she walked out to the lobby to find fangs playing on his phone, while Happy still silently ate his Gummy Bears slowly picking out certain colors, and Ace was sprawled out one of the leather benches snoring loudly.
"I.. Um, I have to mop and stuff in here," She explained shyly not really sure how to tell them they would have to leave.
"Do you need any help?" Fangs asked looking up from his phone.
"Oh, No I just meant I'll have to stack up the chairs and stuff…" She blushed.
"Thank god, because I am not a cleaner," He laughed, Happy looked up almost excitedly "Down boy, not that type of cleaner," Fangs rolled his eyes, and Betty scrunched up her nose not completely following. "We will wait outside, and take you home," He said looking up at Betty, before shoving Ace super hard and waking him up, they started toward the front door.
"Give me like 15 minutes and I'll be out…." Betty paused looking at the ground then back up at Fangs, "Thank you," she looked at him meaningfully.
"It's not a problem, I'm just.."
"Just doing your job, I know, but still.. Thank you," She smiled shyly and Fangs just nodded. Betty went to work trying to finish everything at an impossible speed, not wanting to make them wait on her, she grabbed her bag, setting the alarm and turning off the lights before hurrying to the front door and stepping out into the cold night, pulling the door closed and locking it before turning to the three large guys who were leaning against the window, both Ace and Happy had cigarettes between their lips, but Fangs noticeably didn't.
"You ready to go Blondie?" Fangs asked pushing off the window and stepping towards her, Betty nodded, pushing her keys into her bag and throwing it over her shoulder. Fangs nodded at the other guys.
"Meet you at the Wyrm," Ace nodded before him and Happy took off leaving only Fangs with her. She looked around not seeing a bike or a car, so she turned her eyes back up to him questioningly.
"I'm parked up the street a bit," he nodded up to a sporty looking silver Honda.
"I have to say I'm relieved it's car," She laughed lightly, realizing she didn't really want to be in the open air on a motorcycle that night.
"Well, don't tell him I told you this but I don't think Jones wants you on anyone else's bike," Fangs gave her a sideways look.
"Is that like a thing?" She asked looking up at him as they fell into step together.
"Not really... Jug just isn't exactly known for sharing his toys, maybe he just thinks you'll be too close," he shrugged.
"Toys?" Betty scrunched her nose in disgust not liking the word.
"You know what I mean, I'm sure if you haven't already figured it out, you will soon… for lack of a better word he is very territorial and massively private, honestly if it wasn't for the circumstances I doubt any of us would even know about you," Fangs said matter of factly, making his way to the drivers side of the car and unlocking the doors so she could get in.
"But you guys all seem so close," Betty countered, as she slid into the passenger side, closing the door behind her and shifting into the seat.
"We are, but when it comes to his personal life, if he can avoid talking about it he will. Don't get me wrong he is open when he needs to be, but I've never known anything about relationships or whatever…" Fangs trailed off, turning on the car and throwing it into drive.
"So he just doesn't talk about girlfriends," Betty watched him, suddenly very intrigued by what she was learning.
"Ha, no he doesn't do girlfriends," Fangs laughed before stopping short and furrowing his brow, "or I guess he didn't," He shrugged not taking his eyes off the road as he took off down the street. Betty tried not to let his words bum her out, she wasn't sure what they were together, and she knew she just had to let things happen naturally between them if it was ever going to work, but she would be lying if she said it wasn't somewhat disappointing to hear.
"So what does he do?" Betty asked carefully, staring at her hands in her lap as she picked at her nails.
"Honestly? I don't even know, he doesn't even usually talk about girls, like I said he gets private about that stuff, I wish I had a better answer for you, but I should definitely shut my mouth before I get myself in trouble," Fangs laughed looking over at her and smiling, she smiled back weakly before turning her head and looking out the window. "But this is new… this is… different," He shrugged.
"So I've been told," Betty huffed out wishing she had a better understanding of what was happening, but all she had to go off of was her connection she obviously felt with Jughead, and the fact that the people close to him just kept telling her she was different somehow, which was oddly difficult to believe without knowing who he was before she had stumbled into his life.
"He is a complicated piece of work," Fangs paused seeming to get lost in his head for a second "But before I completely scare you away, he is one of… or actually probably is the greatest person I have ever known, he is loyal to a fault, and authentic, and unconditional, at least for his brothers, and he seems to want to keep you around, so… Just ignore my rambling, I'm just trying to save my own ass before he kills me for making you run," Fangs looked to the side smiling cheekily at her. Betty let his words sink in, over the course of their time so far together she had been getting a small taste of all that he was saying. She knew Jughead was much deeper than he led on, she had felt his scars, seen a glimpse into his life, she had watched his men, the way they looked at him with trust and adoration, he was clearly a leader in his blood, and that was a position he obviously didn't take lightly. Betty would never deny that she felt safe with him even though she had a million reasons not to, and Fangs words only solidified everything she already knew she felt.
"I'm not going anywhere," She said quietly more to herself than him, but he smiled warmly at her words before turning back to the road, and driving her home. They pulled up to her house, and Betty almost asked how he already knew where she lived before it dawned on her that he had probably been there multiple times that week watching out for her, she didn't even know how to thank him at that point, for him he was just doing a job that his highest command had told him to, but Betty still felt like it was such a huge thing. She got out of the car, grabbing her stuff and leaning down to look at him.
"Thank you again Fangs, I owe you… I'll bake you cookies or something," She smiled and waved lightly before standing up right, she paused leaning back down "Do you…. Do you know when he will be home?" She asked lightly, feeling hesitant to try to get any information that maybe she wasn't supposed to know.
"I really don't know Betty, but I'm sure you will be on his list of people to call," Fangs said confidently, she just nodded, and stood up again taking a deep breath and heading for her house, hoping that her mom was already asleep and she could just go straight to bed.
She woke up the next morning feeling oddly well rested, she played the conversation she had with Fangs over in her head before falling asleep and her dreams had been filled with the Serpents and Jughead, but they were happy dreams where she felt like maybe she actually belonged, she got ready for school quickly, pulling her hair up into a high ponytail and sliding her legs into a black skater skirt and pulling a maroon long sleeved crop top over her head, finishing it off with a long white cardigan and classic chucks, she examined herself in the mirror before deciding to pull her hair down, letting the soft curls fall over her shoulders, liking the darker colors against her skin she pulled off the cardigan deciding that the sleeved of her shirt would be enough if it was chilly, she looked in the mirror again turning to the side and pulling the sleeves over her hands nervously, she never usually wore stuff like this especially when it showed her figure so much but she was feeling good, so she forced herself to grab her bag after throwing her phone in it and marched down the stairs willing herself to start heading to school before she could change her mind. She let her legs carry her confidently down the sidewalk the brisk morning air not bothering her at all, once she was halfway to school she slowed her step feeling oddly anxious and wishing she had enough time to run home and change but it was too late, she wrapped her arms around her waist and scolded herself for even thinking this outfit was a good idea, she made her way up the steps to the school, walking timidly through the front doors and hurrying to her locker hoping no one would even look at her. Veronica and Kevin walked in a moment after, and she watched as they both gave her a once over before walking up to her.
"Well hello miss Cooper," Veronica smiled, sliding her arm through Betty's and pulling her to walk with them.
"Look who actually has legs!" Kevin laughed playfully pinching her waist.
"Stop it you guys," Betty blushed shyly "I knew I should have just gone home and changed," She sighed.
"What? No way! You look hott," Veronica nodded, flipping Betty's hair off her shoulder with her free hand.
"Thanks," Betty smiled softly pulling at the hem of her crop top and making sure it was covering her skin.
"What is the occasion?" Kevin asked falling into step on her other side.
"I don't know, just felt like doing something different," Betty shrugged.
"...Or someone," Kevin whispered, but veronica obviously heard, snapping her head to side to stare at Betty with wide eyes.
"Someone?" She asked not hiding the shock in her voice.
"No," Betty glared at Kevin before looking at Veronica innocently "Kevin is just being an idiot," Betty rolled her eyes, her cheeks getting impossibly hot. They walked down the hallway to their home room where Veronica finally let go of her arm.
"I'll catch you guys later," She smiled swishing her hips confidently as she walked away, her high heels clicking loudly on the linoleum floors. As soon as she was gone Betty smacked Kevin's shoulders.
"Sooorrry," He apologized dramatically "But it's not going to be a secret forever, and she is our friend," He huffed sassily rolling his eyes at her, she glared at the back of his head as he walked to his seat. She found her seat next to him and slid into the cold chair, pulling her skirt under her legs more and shifting awkwardly trying to figure out the right way to cross her legs.
She spent the rest of the day trying to ignore how uncomfortable she was, and how many people were staring at her, she wished she had at least worn the sweater, wanting to cover herself up, she was a jeans girl and a nice modest sweater or even a T-shirt. The final bell rang and relief flooded through her that she could hurry home and not worry about feeling insecure anymore, she found Kevin in the hallway at his locker and hurried to his side.
"Thank goodness it's Friday, what are we doing this weekend?" He asked grabbing his stuff and slamming his locker loudly, Betty just shrugged. "I heard Cheryl is throwing a party, she has been constantly distracting herself since her brother… you know," Kevin gave Betty a dramatic look.
"Sure, we can go," Betty shrugged again, only realizing after that she wasn't sure if a Serpent would follow her to that too. Veronica found them on the way out asking Betty about the same party, they walked out of the large front doors where students littered the steps talking amongst themselves.
"You totally should have saved that outfit for Saturday…" Veronica started saying.
"Ummm… Betty…" Kevin stopped short making Betty stop and look at him, his face full of complete shock, his mouth stuck open, she followed his gaze and immediately froze, her heart stopping before picking up so much speed, it pounded in her chest so hard that it almost hurt.
Jughead was standing there leaning casually against tail fin of his car that was parked across the street, a lit cigarette between his lips and his leather jacket draped next to him. Betty's mouth went dry as she panicked, she felt Veronica tense up next to her as she noticed him too. He looked up, finding her in the crowd, as soon as their eyes met it felt like everything else froze, there was suddenly no one around her, no noise, nothing except him, he pushed off the car standing up straight, his gaze looking all the way down her and back up, he narrowed his eyes and smiled wickedly, making her swell with confidence, all her earlier insecurities swept out of her body so fast it was like magic and before realizing what she was doing she started walking towards him, she faintly heard Kevin and Veronica saying something to her but she couldn't listen, she just put one foot in front of the other until somehow she was right in front of him, she stood there nervously pulling at her backpack straps. He tossed the cigarette to the ground and let out a smoky exhale blowing it up into the sky so it didn't hit her.
"Hey Little one," He gave her that sideways smile and her knees buckled.