They were sitting on the same side of a booth at Pop's something that had become a regular occurrence of late. She sipped on her strawberry milkshake while he ate his fries which she had bought them to share but didn't seem hungry herself. She was instead staring at her own milkshake contemplating how she was going to tell him.
"You know I care for you right?" She looked up at him with such earnest that he now found himself concerned.
"Yeah" He replied slowly, cautious of where she was going to go with this. It sounded as though she was ramping up for something. His mind went to the most immediate and logical conclusion in his own mind. If she had something to tell him, something important it really could only be one thing.
'Oh shit.' It hit him like a freight train, she was breaking up with him. It had been a good run he reasoned in his head, he couldn't expect it to last forever. It would be hard for him to watch her move on, to give her kisses and soft whispers to someone else, but he would endure it to keep her in his life. He would willingly pay that price.
"Oh god it's not that bad" She stated looking at the disappointment that had washed over him
"It's okay Betts really I understand." He reached out to touch her shoulder, one last touch before he lost her forever.
"I haven't even asked you yet." She looked at him confused.
"Asked me?" Confusion replaced the look of disappointment on his face.
"Yeah Mum has been bugging me to invite you to dinner and I like you Juggie, a lot, actually and I didn't want you to be put off, or think that it's too soon." She was rambling she knew she was rambling.
"Oh Betts, I thought that conversation was going a whole different direction." Relief washed over him, before a whole new set of fears set in. Alice Cooper was one of the scariest people he had ever met.
"So you'll come to dinner then?"
"Oh God no your mum scares the hell out of me." He stated simply.
"Juggie come on. She's not that bad." She stopped considering the words that had just come out of her mouth. "Well actually yes she is, but my dad will be there too." She added hopefully.
"Oh great." He put his head in his hands, processing what she was asking of him. Not only did he have to face the dragon lady, but a dad who would want to protect his little girl after already having one an unwed mother.
"Please Juggie, isn't this what we are expected to do now, that we are kind of, you know." The label eluded her boyfriend and girlfriend didn't quite seem to cover it.
"Betts, you remember breakfast right? She didn't exactly greet me with open arms then and that was before I helped you to go see Polly. I think your mum disapproves."
"Oh I know my mum disapproves." Betty offered a smile his way. She had a rebellious streak in her that was only growing more and more and he had to admit he liked it. "Please Juggie, I'll make it up to you." And then she gave him the Disney princess eyes and he felt his resolve waning.
"I'm not getting out of this am I?" He looked into those big green eyes as her smile of success reached them and knew that he had never stood a chance.
"Nope." She stated giving him a quick peck on the cheek signifying that she had won this little argument and that he had never stood a chance. With that she jumped up from her seat heading to the counter to settle the bill.
"How are you going to make it up to me?" He called out to her.
-
Here he stood on the welcome doormat on the doorway to hell, his finger hovering over the door bell. The things Betty could get him to do. Not much scared Jughead Jones, after the childhood that he had had but dinner with Alice Cooper was the stuff of nightmares.
He pressed the doorbell and waited. He breathed a sigh of relief when it was Betty who opened the door beaming at him.
"Didn't know whether you may have had second thoughts and skipped town. " She whispered the last part to him.
"Only for you." He stepped through the door way and kissed her lightly on the lips. At the touch of his lips she wanted to melt into him. However she knew her mum would be keeping her eagle eyes on her from the kitchen.
"Jug-Head." An involuntary shiver went through him. Alice Cooper eyed him from the kitchen. Scrutinizing him from where she stood, he felt like her eyes were boring into him and found himself wondering how his Betty had come from someone so close to the epitome of evil.
"Mrs Cooper." He greeted her as formally as he could as per Betty's instructions during their brief tutorial during lunch that day.
"Jug-Head" Every syllable was exaggerated as if every time she said his name she was pointing out the absurdness of it, like he didn't already know. "I thought you were going to keep avoiding us, or has Betty warned you away from us?"
"Mum" Betty began to protest.
"I've been busy looking for a new job actually since the drive in went under." He replied keeping his tone level, not allowing himself to give her any further ammunition.
"And spending a lot of time with our daughter?" Alice interjected. "This is an important year for Betty." She started and he could feel a lecture coming his way.
Jughead looked back at the clock in the kitchen and willed it to speed up. He grit his teeth and prepared himself to hold his tongue for the majority of the night. But then he looked over at Betty and how much she needed him there how much she was seeking her mum's approval and knew that he would be able to do it for her, only for her. She gave him a smile of sympathy and he decided right there that she was worth it, all of it.
