To say that Jughead was mad would be an understatement. He was livid . Someone had kidnapped his girlfriend and tortured her for five months. Someone had done that to Betty. Without any regard for how she would feel. He knew Hal and Alice Cooper were pissed too; mad in ways he couldn't quite fathom because he wasn't a parent. But he could still hurt for his girlfriend and he did.

Sweet Pea hurt for Betty too, just in different ways. The taller one viewed her very much like a pseudo-sister and he knew that Sweet Pea was feeling protective of her. He couldn't honestly say he blamed him.

Then there were the rest of their friends; the rest of the Serpents who had raised hell when she had gone missing. The question that they begged to find an answer to was who took her? Who had kidnapped her that fateful night? Jughead didn't have the answers but he would move heaven and earth to find them.

Betty was back home now, in her own room, and away from hospital machinery that liked to beep insistently at her. She had expressed great relief when she had been able to go home. Alice had prepared her room for her, getting rid of anything that could trigger her time with the Black hood. Of course, they didn't know who he was so they didn't know what to look for. But Jughead would worry about that at a later date. All he cared about right now was Betty's safety and happiness. They were both of paramount importance to him. "You're comfortable?" Jughead asked hoarsely.

Betty smiled at him tenderly. "I am. Thank you."

Jughead nodded, feeling relief permeate his bones. He just wanted her comfortable. And he knew she wouldn't lie to him to spare his feelings. That wasn't what their relationship was about. "Good."

Betty got a faraway look in her eyes, and Jughead knew that she was thinking about her time in captivity. How he wanted to soothe her with his soul acting as a balm. But he knew he never could. She had to deal with the kidnapping in any way she saw fit. She had to deal with the repercussions of the traumatizing event. But that didn't mean he couldn't or wouldn't be there for her. He was always going to be there for her.

Betty turned glassy eyes unto him that bled exhaustion. He knew in that moment how sleep-deprived she must be and he was gently guiding her into bed. "What are you doing?" Betty protested.

He tutted gently. "You need rest and sleep, sweetheart. I won't hear another word against it. Even if you don't fall asleep, you can just lay here with me, and I'll do my best to keep the mind gremlins away."

"The mind gremlins?" Betty asked with a slight chuckle..

He eased her down onto the pillows, pulling the covers up over their bodies as he laid next to her. "Mhm. The creatures that come out to play when we least expect them to."

"I think I'm going to have a lot of those," she whispered, and his breath hitched. He traced the pad of his thumb along her knuckles, keeping a close hold on her. He never overcrowded her, though. He made sure to give her enough room that she could roll out of his hold at any moment she wanted to.

"I know," he murmured. "I know you'll have demons - new and old - that you have to fight. I just want you to know that you don't have to fight them on your own. I'm going to be here every step of the way with you."

Betty pressed a kiss to his collarbone. "I cannot tell you what that means to me, Juggie. The fact that you didn't give up on me when I was missing and the fact that you don't give up on me now, when no one would blame you, means the world to me."

Jughead breathed quietly, making sure his exhalation of air didn't sound like a sigh when that was all it was. He didn't think Betty would be so self-deprecating that she even had room to entertain the idea that he'd give up on her, but there they were. "Betts, baby, listen to me: there is nothing that was going to get me to give up on you. These last five months have been the worst of my life."

"I'm not that special," she protested but he shut her up with a kiss, silencing her quiet mumbles.

"You arethat important. To me. It's that simple," he said, reassuring her with his words. "And I'll tell you that however many times you need to hear it, but please, please believe me when I say had you died - had the Black Hood killed you - I would have gone right into the earth with you. There isn't a world I want to live in if you're not there."

She looked at him with glassy eyes, before pressing a soft and delicate kiss to his lips. He threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling her closer and closer …"I love you, Juggie. You got me through the darkest nights of my kidnapping. When I didn't see any more hope, I saw your face, and knew to keep fighting. I can't thank you enough for that."

"And I can't thank you enough for fighting, sweetheart. For fighting to stay alive. The fact that you're here, next to me in this bed, proves that you fought. I'm so fucking proud of you, Betts."

She pressed her lips to his once more, and then laid on his chest. He settled his hands around her, holding onto her, and he relished the moment. She was back with him, safe, maybe not completely sound, but they would work on it. Right now, that was good enough. It had to be. It had to be good enough to keep them pressing one foot in front of the other. Onward.

Author's note: We get back to the action-packed next chapter. I just wanted a sweet one for now. Xo