Betty looked at Jughead, his bruised up face making his features look even more dangerous. Her heart fluttered in her chest as her mind flashed back to that night, the way she had screamed at him and the way he had finally opened up to her about what he was truly dealing with. She knew he meant every word he had just spoken, after everything they had been through she knew him telling her about his life was something he wouldn't take back, he trusted her and needed her, she involuntarily blushed her cheeks heating up still under his gaze. He continued to tell Jaoquin what actually happened in that bedroom before they had gotten to her, the way Nick had explained Jason's drug dealing, and she ended up replaying that part of the night as well, an unwelcome shiver running up her spine.
"He works for Castle too, he must have been trying to plant more shit, get in Bett's head and turn her against me…That has to be why Nick told her about him," Jughead shook his head, his gears clearly turning, but the sound started filtering out of Betty's ears as she ran back through that night again, replaying everything from the moment he entered Jason's room, her heart started to pound as her ears got hot, realizing her mistake.
"He didn't…" She whispered, her voice barely audible. Jughead turned his head to her his eyebrows knitted together as the rest of them looked at her too, she felt like a small cornered animal surrounded by predators. She knew they weren't but in that moment she still wanted to shrink away from their stares and disappear.
"What?" he asked, genuinely confused. Betty searched his eyes, realization washing over her at what she had done, the gravity of what she had caused crashing into her like a tidal wave.
"He didn't tell me about Castle," She gulped her cheeks starting to burn unbearably hot, a cold sweat broke out over her palms, "... I told him," She stuttered out glancing to the floor, unable to meet his eyes
"What do you mean Betty?" Jughead kept his voice level but she could hear the edge to it and it made her shiver.
"He told me about Jason, and that he was dealing for some guy in New York… But he never said Castle's name. I did," Her voice trailed off into a whisper and she tried to meet his piercing gaze, but the instant she did she regretted it, his forest eyes wear blazing, and she looked down almost immediately.
"Fuck," His voice was disappointed but not mad and she finally looked up to see him sigh and reach up to pinch his nose, "So that's why he suddenly made an appearance. His little lap dog knew we were throwing his name around." He covered his face with one large palm, shaking his head slightly and she knew he wasn't scolding her but it sure felt like she was in big trouble.
"He isn't stupid… the only reason we would be talking about him or raising caution about him is if we had something to hide," Sweet Pea groaned, leaning back on the couch and Betty looked around at all of them, panic rising in her throat. She had messed up, in the exact way he was probably afraid she would and her gut twisted. He was never going to trust her again.
"I'm sorry," She whimpered, knowing now that all of this was her fault but not really knowing what else to do.
"Don't apologize babe," Jughead sighed, going to reach for her hand and clenching his jaw as he moved his wounded shoulder to do it. She reached out to meet him halfway and intertwined her fingers with his, desperate to touch him and make him believe she was sorry. She hadn't expected him to be so understanding and kind, but it was not unwelcome in her panicked state.
"Seriously?" Joaquin snapped, apparently she wasn't the only one who hadn't expected it "If any of us did that you would ring our fucking necks, like literally you might actually kill us!" His voice rose to yell and Betty flinched, squeezing his hand accidentally. Jughead let go of her hand swiftly as he stood somehow seeming like he wasn't in any pain and walked to tower over the boy, his arm that shouldn't be moving reached to the back of the chair gripping next to Joaquin's head as he leaned down his face hovering intimidatingly close.
"And how many times have you been roofied?" He growled in a terrifying voice. Jaoquin dropped his eyes, a scowl still across his face but he didn't answer, he visibly swallowed and seemed to calm himself down, clearly backing down from Jughead's display. "I'm going to give you three second to apologize to her before I fuck you up," He challenged raising an eyebrow, but loosened his grip on the chair and stood upright, Joaquin finally looked back to him in surrender.
"You don't have…" She started but quickly shut her mouth when Fangs, who had been next to her on the couch, grabbed her hand squeezing in warning.
"I'm sorry," Joaquin gritted out his eyes falling from Jughead and landing on her. She swallowed hard and nodded. She wasn't really used to dealing with this side of Jughead, and it was never directed at her so seeing their reaction to him was slightly out of place for her, the fear evident in Jaoquin's eyes felt oddly out of place, when she could never see Jug hurting any of his crew, or anyone he cared about. But she was more aware than ever that she didn't see all of him and there was a good reason that he was their leader and they respected him as such.
"I really didn't know it would set all of this in motion," She tried looking between all of them apologetically.
"There is no way you could have known... " Sweet Pea nodded at her reassuringly. Jughead glared one last time at Joaquin before turning his back to him and walking back to his chair. Betty watched him throw his body into the cushion, a tired sigh softly falling from his lips, and she wished desperately she could somehow explain more and will him to understand how sorry she was. And despite his kind words Sweet Pea was wrong, without all the information there was no way she could have known how horrible of a move it was to give away that she knew about Castle that much was true. But Jughead had warned her about his life and about anything she knew about his world, how dangerous even just knowing could be. He had begged her to stay away from him, and even tried to keep parts of his life a secret once he realized he couldn't give her up, but she had forced them out of him every time, using his fear of losing her as tool to get him to tell her things that he knew he shouldn't. She realized just how much she had she was really at fault for all of this, had she never known she wouldn't have even had the opportunity to be so stupid. She was not made for his world, his life and her heart ached. She would learn though she decided mentally reassuring herself, a determination blooming in her chest, she would be better and she would do whatever it took to be a good partner in this. Even if it meant fixing this herself.
"All blame aside, what the hell do we do now?" Fangs asked, pulling her from her thoughts as his hand still wrapped around Betty's rubbed his thumb gently over hers, she involuntarily shivered from the movement and Jughead's eyes snapped to her before moving his gaze to their hands, his eyes narrowed. Fangs quickly let her go, catching the glare and looking away. Betty blushed even though the gesture hadn't been romantic in any way. She knew it had meant to be comforting but the sharp, jealous glare from Jughead made her suck in a breath.
"We don't fucking touch my girlfriend," Jughead eyed him coldly, still not quite out of leader mode.
"Jug stop, focus," Betty warned, fighting not to roll her eyes at him, knowing that pissing him off more probably was the wrong move. She tried to pull him back to the conversation by leaning forward and resting her hand on his knee. He looked at her taking in a deep breath and she held his gaze nodding slightly and squeezing his knee willing him to calm down. He seemed to get her silent que's and huffed out another breath, rolling his own eyes in defeat but backing down from the confrontation.
"Let me handle the other crews, I can patch that up… I think," He sighed looking at Fangs more calmly now, almost bordering on apologetically, "As for Castle… We need to hold a vote I guess," Betty felt the air in the trailer shift as they all got quiet, the gravity of what Jughead was proposing falling on all of them, but being lost on her. She twisted her lips to the side waiting for anyone to talk.
"Juggiebaby…" Gladys started and they all looked up at her leaning on the wall at the entrance to the hallway. Betty had almost forgotten she was there, but his mother looked at him with her eyes oddly sad "A club vote is a bad idea." He watched his mom, his eyebrows pulling together and Betty watched the odd silent conversation they had in that look.
"You got a better one?" He shook his head at her, but kept his gaze trained on hers.
"We gotta keep this quiet… if your father finds out…" She started, her voice dropping to a whisper as she trailed off.
"Don't bring him into this," Jughead cut her off with a sharp growl. Betty couldn't see Jug's face but judging by the way his mom cowered into the door frame his eyes were daggers "This isn't his fucking club anymore," He said sternly.
"It's not," Gladys nodded in agreement "But he still has pull over the older members… We don't need an internal war too," she sighed quietly, looking at her coffee mug in her hands and gripping the handle tightly.
"Fp doesn't get a fucking say in this, he isn't here. He doesn't have to keep the club safe, that's on me" Jughead spat before taking a deep breath and running his hand down his face, shifting away from his mom and staring at the ground in front of him in heavy contemplation "This is on me," He huffed quietly, his eyes bouncing around the pattern of the carpet, lost in his own thoughts.
"No. It's on me," Betty whispered, her hand still on his knee, she searched his eyes as he turned to look at her, flinching slightly with the movement. Her eyes flashed from him to Gladys who nodded at her reassuringly.
"She is right," Sweet Pea chimed in "This is all of our club, it's on me too," He shrugged.
"All for one, and one for all," Fangs smiled. Betty looked back to Jug who was glancing at all of them and she could sense the internal struggle in him, she felt it for him, he was uncomfortable. He wasn't a man who could accept help well, she had learned slowly that he took on the world alone and his crew usually respected that and let him, but she wasn't going to let that happen. But this display of open affection and help was not going to be easy for him to accept.
"We all want to help. We will follow your lead but we are here," she said in a more confident tone, trying to show him that he could let his wall down a little. He narrowed his eyes at her but his lips pulled up into a weak knowing smile. "It's on us," She nodded, hoping she was convincing him at least a little bit. Jug placed his hand over hers, stopping for a beat before confidently lifting it up to his lips kissing the back of it. She blushed, smiling at him, relief flooding her for the first time, maybe she wasn't as bad at this as she thought.
"I feel like you guys should all be standing on a desk right now," Jughead chuckled, letting their intertwined finger rest on the leather arm.
"Oh Captain, my Captain" Joaquin spoke up nodding too, and they shared a look that Betty couldn't place. Their dynamic was different than the other serpents and she assumed it was because of Kevin and her. It gave both of them an understanding of each other that the others didn't have. But he was still just a prospect and he seemed to be remembering his place, "So what do we do boss?" He emphasized the last word with obvious respect.
"For now… Let's just focus on repairing relationships… and the bar," Jughead grimaced and Betty thought back to the mess that was the Whyte Wyrm right then. Toni had cleaned up all the glass and Betty had helped her mop up all of the blood but there was still a lot to fix before it could be a running bar again. "Give me some time to think about Castle, unfortunately my mom is right… Maybe a club vote isn't the best move right now, but he is going to want an answer and I don't want to give him another chance to come and collect one," Jug sighed looking at Betty, his eyes full of tortured guilt.
"I can meet with the Russians," Sweet Pea offered. "They have always liked my dad, I can take him," He shrugged holding his hands up and Jughead nodded back.
"And I can reach out to Tagomi, set up a meeting… It has to be you for that one though," Fangs looked to Jug knowingly, who clicked his tongue nodding absentmindedly in agreement, and flashing a quick glance around but clearly still lost in his own thoughts.
"Me and Betty will help Toni with the rest of the bar," Gladys pulled her coffee mug to her lips and took a sip, giving Betty a pointed look. She found herself nodding, wanting to do more but this was at least a start.
"I'll get the Irish then I guess," Joaquin huffed tiredly.
"Let me fix it with the Irish," Jughead had focused his eyes and tilted his head to the side, frowning "They are the most stubborn… And have the closest relationship with Castle. I don't want anyone else going to Hell's Kitchen." His words were an obvious command and no one argued.
"Fair," Joaquin said, sounding relieved. "I can go over the footage with Gears, try to get any more information.. And I'll have Kevin bring Betty her school work," He shrugged, eyeing Jughead carefully but relaxing when he didn't react one way or the other to the mention of Betty. She almost laughed out loud at the pins they all walked on around him when she was the subject, was he really that volatile?
"Thank you guys," Jughead swallowed hard, his voice quiet, weak, and definitely out of character. Betty felt for him in that moment in a way she never had before, what Toni had said on his Birthday coming back to her. He was still just a 22 year old kid and he needed them. She was suddenly happy that she could be there to try to push him back from the ledge of isolation, no matter how terrified she had been that night she couldn't let him take this on alone and the rest of his crew seemed to be following her lead. She sucked in a breath realizing that was the nod Gladys had given her earlier. She was his charmer, she held some amount of power, some amount of leadership and they would follow her too. It was almost as if she really was the Queen to his King, making her even more determined to be an asset.
"But when it comes down to it…," He paused for a beat, his voice no longer quiet, "I need everyone to respect that Castle is mine," Jughead looked up sharply, a strange determination glinting in his eyes, his voice stern and final and sounding much more like the leader Betty had learned he was.
They all started stirring and getting up, their own small conversations breaking out as some said their goodbyes, leaving to start on their respective adventures to fix the damage from the other night. She stayed with him for a moment as he silently stared ahead, and she wanted to ask what he was thinking but she didn't know how she even deserved to know at this point, her guilt still present. Betty stood, still holding his hand and it seemed to pull him from his thoughts as his gaze followed her. She walked past him slowly letting his hand go and he gave her a clipped smile before retreating back into his mind. She made her way back to Jug's room finding her phone and throwing herself lazily on the bed, waiting for him to come back to the room assuming he would eventually come find her and they could maybe talk more privately, knowing he tended to be more open without others around. She rolled onto her back hearing Gladys through the door tell Jug she needed to look at his wound, but she couldn't make out his answer. She rolled to her back, staring at the eyeball on his ceiling and squinting at it. She remembered back to a night they had finally watched it together. Curled up in his bed above the bar. She was rightfully horrified by the whole thing, the movie had honestly barely made sense to her and it was almost alarming that it was his favorite film with how violent it was.
"So that's your favorite movie?" She had asked sitting up the bed and eyeing him, her face not hiding her disgust. He laughed at her knowingly and just nodded.
"It's not for everyone," He admitted with a shrug but she wasn't willing to let it go, she knew he loved Akira because he identified with it, and somehow saw himself in it but there was no way that was the case here, unless…
"You aren't like that," She told him " I mean I know you've done violent things… but that…" She trailed off as he looked at her his eyebrows pulling together as he tried to follow her thoughts, he sat up against his pillows and slid his hands underneath his head.
"Wait, you think…" He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You're not serious are you?" He laughed but it was almost a scoff. "You think I like this movie cuz I think I'm like that?" He was obviously shocked by her revelation and she couldn't help the embarrassed blush that crept up her chest and neck.
"I don't know!" She yelled throwing her hands up but laughing too at how insane she felt.
"Well let me assure you I do not think thats me, I would never act in violence just for fun," He shook his head, and she definitely believed him but she also could count a few times that he had found fun in violence, or at least enjoyed it, even if it had been justified. He seemed to read her mind, "Let me clarify… my moral compass is definitely not where it should be, but i'm not just inherently an evil person, not exactly a good person either. I'm what they like to call Morally Gray," He smiled playfully at her and tiled his head in a slight nod motion for her to come to him, and she did, laying her body next to him and resting her chin on his chest. "That's why I'm willing to ruin you," He pulled a hand from behind his hand and gently tucked her hair behind her ear, before sliding his finger along her jaw and under her chin.
"Ruin me, then," She smirked at him and he raised an eyebrow, his lips pulling into a sideways smile. He pulled his thumb and finger together pinching her chin gently and guiding her up to him, her body obeying his touch and wiggling herself closer to his face.
"Have I not already?" His voice was low and seductive, as he watched her, and it would never not surprise her how easily he turned the charm on and how quickly she melted at it every damn time.
"So why this movie?" She asked, as his fingers released her chin and brushed lightly across her cheek. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully and chewed his bottom lip.
"Why this movie?" He repeated clearly thinking about it. "I guess I like that it doesn't just say evil is bad and that's that. Its message feels more like…" He paused again, shifting his shoulders and clicking his tongue trying to find the words, "Like there is free will in all humans, and with that free will comes both good and evil but they are equally important, if said free will is truly just that.. Being good has to be a choice and that is mutually exclusive to not wanting to be evil," He explained thoughtfully, "Kinda like one can't exist truly without the other one, if we all were never presented with some type of evil how would we know if we are truly choosing the good. You have to be given a choice to be able to make one. I like that. It's the point that humanity has flaws and choices. To truly find satisfaction in that humanity you have to be aware that you are choosing to be good, otherwise you just sorta exist with no meaning." He shrugged but again his intellect was something she would never tire of.
"You're sexy," She fawned, batting her eyelashes at him. She was teasing him but her words were honest. It really was probably the sexiest part of him that he had this strong frame, was muscular, covered in tattoos and led a gang full of arms dealers, but he was quick as a whip too, thoughtful, and extremely intelligent. She silently wondered what his thoughts were on all kinds of things, wanting to root around his brain and ask the most random questions, but she held back, enjoying at least this window into his mind. He ran tongue along his teeth before smiling, tilting one side of his lips up higher.
"I am?" He laughed. "I can say without a shadow of a doubt, horny was not what I expected as a reaction to that movie."
"Oh, well not it feels wrong," She laughed making a face at him for ruining the moment, she rolled off of him and laid on her back. He laughed too comfortably and she looked up at him, his eyes seeming glued to the ceiling, that was stark white here as opposed to the spray painted image in the trailer.
"I guess I also like it because it sorta makes me feel better sometimes, to remind myself that there are things out there more evil than me. People who are more fucked up, ya know?" His voice was soft but not quite a whisper, and his gaze stayed locked in place, something clearly going through his mind.
She pulled herself from the memory refocusing on the black lines on his ceiling, his ideology of good and evil reminding her that there was room in everyone for both things. She was never very good at evil but maybe she could pretend to be. An Idea started forming slightly as she grabbed her phone.
He is awake and okay. Thank you for covering for me.