Jughead watched Betty carefully from his position in the top of the stands. They were having a football game that night, their last of the season, and Betty was at the top of the pyramid. He would be lying if he said seeing her up that high didn't scare him a little. He didn't want her to fall and break her ankle. He watched as she flipped off the pyramid, being caught by their male cheerleaders, and jumped to his feet with the rest of the stands as Chuck scored the game-winning point. Another game, another night for Friday Night Lights as Jughead called it. Small-town vibes and people eager to see a good football game.

Archie had been playing since they were children. He remembers chasing the redheaded boy around the playground, reaching out his arms for the football that Archie never wanted to share. Even at that young age, he was selfish. Sweet Pea was whistling as Toni, Cheryl, and Veronica were racing each other up and down the field in a series of complicated flips. Betty somersaulted over to them and the four of them completed the cheer.

Thank God. The game was over. They could go to Pops and then Jughead could take Betty back to her place to grab her suitcase. They were going to have a few days away from everyone as they celebrated his girl's birthday. She was turning seventeen, which was a good number, and then they'd both be eighteen the next year. He had a lot of things in mind for her eighteenth birthday. Just then, Sweet Pea ushered them off the stands and to where the cheerleaders were conversing with the football players. Jughead saw Archie making his way towards Betty the same time that Sweet Pea did and nodded his head. "I'll handle it."

Sweet Pea nodded and made his way towards Betty and the girls as Jughead doubled-back and headed towards Archie. He caught him by the shoulder and held him in place. "Don't." His voice was nothing more than a visceral hiss. Archie smirked.

"Won't always be around to protect her, Jug," he said, eyes alight with a feverish energy that churned Jughead's stomach. He glared at him until Archie snickered and sauntered off. The inexcusable prick.

Then hands covered his eyes, and he laughed as Betty pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Hi boyfriend."

"Oh, hi, girlfriend," he laughed, turning around in her arms and pressing a kiss to her lips. Her lips were warm and inviting and he threaded his fingers through her blonde tresses, pulling her hair out of its ponytail. They kissed for a solid minute until someone cleared their throat. Pulling away from her, he grinned down at the knowing look on Ronnie's face.

"I know you want time with your girl, Jug, but we all do," Veronica reminded him. "You're about to be alone with her for three days. Let us at least have a meal with her."

Jughead laughed, nodding his head as he went to go wrap his arm around his girlfriend's waist loosely. Sweet Pea was doing a headcount of everyone, making sure everyone was there, and then the taller was heading in their direction. "We're ready?" Sweet Pea asked, going to entangle his hand with Ronnie's. The shorter pressed her lips to his cheek and smiled.

"We're ready," she replied. Then they were off.

XXX

Pops was crowded, not one booth empty. Jughead and Sweet Pea squeezed together a couple of chairs around their booth to make room for Kevin and Joaquin who, at the last minute, decided to come with him instead of going to Joaquin's place. Betty was dipping one of her French fries into her vanilla shake, laughing at something Cheryl was telling her. Jughead could feel eyes on him and looked up. Toni was looking at him, and he ducked his head. He knew that she knew Betty was the one. There was no way that she wasn't.

Just then, raucous laughter could be heard as the door slammed open, and Jughead sighed. Chuck and his dimwit dicks were there. Great. Keeping one eye on them and one eye on his friends and family, Jughead made sure things stayed nice. Betty stood up a minute later. "I've got to go to the bathroom."

Jughead hopped over the booth bench to let her out and kept an eye on her as she walked into the ladies' room. Jughead then turned back in time to hear what Sweet Pea was saying. "We all bought Betts's her gifts so make sure you guys come home at a reasonable time in three days."

"Will do, man," Jughead replied, glancing at his watch. A couple of minutes had passed. He'd give Betty a couple more before he went to go look for her. Just then, he heard her cry out.

"Get the hell off me, Clayton!" Betty yelled, and Sweet Pea, Jughead, and Joaquin were all hauling ass to the dark hallway by the secluded bathrooms. Chuck had Betty pressed up against the wall, trying to kiss her neck as she turned away from him. Jughead didn't think. Just reacted. He yanked him off, shoving his body up against the wall as he twisted his arm behind his back.

"Touch her again," he said in a deadly quiet voice, "and you can kiss your football career goodbye. Do you understand?"

Chuck grunted and Jughead applied more pressure to his arm. "All right, man! I understand!"

Jughead threw him away from him, bodily slamming him away from Betty, then he turned and checked on her. "You, okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she murmured, turning to look at the other two men. "Did you all seriously come?"

"When Betty screams, we run," Joaquin said, kicking Chuck once in the ribs for good measure. Jughead caught her hand in his, holding it gently.

"You ready to go get your stuff and get out of town for a bit?" Jughead asked.

"Born ready, Juggy," Betty smiled.

He kissed her once, then her forehead, and then they were on their way, away from the drama of Riverdale.