Bruises

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by emily4783

by emily4783

Archie held an ice pack to his nose, which was gradually swelling and turning a bright purple. The punch had hit his jaw on impact, but his nose had been caught up in the blow. In fact, it had probably taken the worst of it. On the other hand, Jughead's fist was red, and ever so slightly bruised. Not quite a swollen nose, but enough for me to care.

Jughead gave me a grateful smile as I placed some ice on his hand, but denied the need for medical attention. "I'm fine Betts, it didn't hurt." He shrugged, but flinched when I picked up his hand to tape it. "I don't care. You clearly hurt your hand punching your friend, which I'm still mad about by the way." I shrugged, placing his hand back down on the table.
"Yeah well, either way, he deserved it. He was pointing a gun at you Betts... Blackmailed or not he deserved it."

Veronica sighed, wiping the last bit of blood from Archie's face, and glared at my boyfriend. "He is here you know." Her voice was half-hearted, but defensive none the less.
"It's fine Ronnie." Archie placed his hand on top of hers, "I did deserve it. I deserve a lot worse. Betty... I'm so sorry. Really, I am. I was just so scared to loose them both - and I wasn't thinking straight." His eyes were pleading, desperate, glazed with tears. Saying I was conflicted was an understatement, but I had to say something to comfort him. "Arch. I can't say I will forgive you, not yet anyway, but I understand. What you were going to do, it was for your mum and I can't say I blame you."

Everyone seemed quite surprised by my words, but believed them. Thank goodness really, I didn't want them worrying. In reality, I was terrified. Archie was my friend, and he was about to kill me, shoot me right through the head. Of course, my words weren't all lies, I really did understand why he wanted to do that, but right now I was unbelievably scared. Not of Archie, he was no threat without a gun, but of whoever wanted me dead so much that they would blackmail him.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one thinking about this, because Veronica had the same idea. "Guys? I think we have another problem. Whoever called Archie... They want Betty dead." Her voice shook a little, not quite looking me in the eye. Jughead tensed, and swallowed suddenly, turning to Archie. "Bro, we need the number of the person who called you. I'm betting that the serpent has something to do with this, and what happened at Pop's." The ginger haired boy nodded quickly, pulling out his phone with his shaking hands.

***

Surprise surprise, the number didn't ring. It was just nothing. Veronica decided to take Arch home to keep an eye on him - something he definitely needed right now. Jughead sat with his head in his hands, clearly distressed. "Juggie." I whispered to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "We can deal with this, okay? You don't have to worry."
"Worry? Betty, I always worry about you! Every minute of every day. And now someone wants you dead, again. So badly that they would blackmail one of your best friends just to do it! I-I need to keep you safe, I can't let anything happen to you again." Tears were now brimming in his eyes. He took my hands in his as I sat on the seat next to him, and I pulled him into a hug.

I let him hold me for a few seconds, before pulling back and cupping his face in my hands. "Jughead. Nothing is going to happen to me, okay? You're not going to loose me - period." He nodded a little, not quite meeting my eye. Giving him a stern look, I went on. "Believe me, please. Just this once. I'm not going anywhere. We're going to solve this and end it - c'mon, we're basically the Scooby gang!"

Eventually, Jug gave a smile, which I greeted with a kiss, feeling him relax more and more as I placed a hand on his neck. And then, my phone started ringing, loudly.

Sighing, I picked it up without even looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" I answered.
"Erm, hi Betty. It's Liam."

(Her ex-boyfriend who accused her of cheating for those who don't remember 😂)