heartbeats ; bughead

24

Betty

"Merry Christmas, Betty Cooper."

And that's when his lips softly touched mine. Immediately, I kissed back, running my hands through his soft, dark brown hair, and then I realized something.

Technically, I still have a boyfriend.

I pulled away with a sudden movement, and he looked into my eyes in confusion.

"Betty? What--"

"I can't-We can't do this, okay? I have to go. I have to tell Archie." He grasped my hand, and for a second, I wished I could kiss him again, but it was too soon, and too much, for me. 

I slipped my hand out and ran. I was running so fast that I realized I just ran past my house.

"ELIZABETH COOPER! Get in here, now." I saw my mom's haunting face, shining in the moonlight and glaring at me.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I was watching the Christmas tree lighting, and I ran late."

"Of course, Betty. Now get in." My mom violently gestured for me to come in.

I ran up to my room, plugging my phone into its charger, and calling Archie.

A deep voice on the phone. "Betty?" 

"Uh, hi, Mr. Andrews. Can I talk to Archie?" 

"He's not here right now, sorry." 

He was about to put the phone down, when there were some voices, and then I heard Archie's raspy voice on the phone.

"Hey , Veronic--Betty." I frowned, and clenched my fists.

Archie and Veronica still talked to each other. I told myself to stop. 

It's their life, not yours. I have to get Archie back.

"It's okay, Archie. I-You know what? Meet me at Pop's. Please?"

"Yeah, Betty."

10 Minutes Later...

I forced myself into a booth, carrying the heavy object in my pocket. 

And then I saw him, smiling at me, red hair all tousled.

My best friend.

"Hey, Archie. So, uh, about that whole Veron--"

"I'm sorry, by the way. Complete accident." He ran his hands through his hair nervously, watching me expectantly. 

"Archie, hey, it's-it's okay." I took his hands in mine. "I'm still hurt that you wouldn't tell me about you and Veronica. I mean, I'm your best friend. I'll always come back to you. No matter what.

"But with all that said, I'm...I'm happy for you, Archie." His lips turned up slightly. 

"I'm happy that my best friend for I don't know, thirteen years, has finally found love. Even-even if it's not the way I wanted it to be.

"I love you, Archie. Just, you know, not like that. I wanna be your friend, but nothing more. I know you feel the same."

He sighed, as if something heavy had just been lifted off. "But don't you still have--"

"I still have feelings for you, but"-- I licked my lips--"Your happiness is more important. I'll get over it." 

"Thanks, Betty. I love you."

For the next hour, he just filled me in on everything he and Veronica were doing, and I wasn't jealous.

I didn't feel those pangs of jealousy, of hurt. I felt happy. Happy that Archie was in love. But at the same time, I felt sad.

Sad that I didn't have the same thing that Archie and Veronica had. 

At that moment, when I asked Archie, "How did you know that you were falling in love with her?", and he said

"I knew that I would risk everything to be with her, and to see her. That's how I knew I was in love.", I thought of when I kissed Jughead.

When I felt his softness melting into my skin, his heartbeats when I put my hand on his chest, going thump-thump, never ceasing, and his stupid smile, I felt something new. 

All this, the kiss, the feelings, the pangs in my chest, everything was new. 

And I wanted more of it.

More of him. 

ahhahahah wdyt guys do you think betty's starting to have feelings for jug? god i love writing this sm. anyways, i've been telling this to everyone, but do you watch pll? if you do, then doN't dIscRimInatE aGaiNst hAleB, i mean i hate hanna, but caleb's really cute and i think they look awesome together. i mean screw spaleb, it's hAlEb ok? anyways, tysm for reading, hope you guys <3 this chapter! bye watters.

~mo