Them [bughead]

~Him~

The next week went by fast. Jughead played lots of hide & seek with Glimmer and Jellybean. He was up many nights wondering how Betty was. He talked a little to Leonard but didn't really like him. He spent some time with his mom even though he was mad at her. And he found himself enjoying it...even though he would never admit it to anyone. At least not yet. He spent many hours talking to his little sister. And he really loved her. His list of people he loved, truly loved grew from two people to three. It hurt him when he packed his stuff even though he was happy to be closer to Betty. He had, during the week, get two texts from Veronica regarding Betty. Both of them said that Betty was okay. And he hoped, for Veronica's sake, that she wasn't lying. 

He packed his bag and put it in the car. 
"Goodbye Jughead." His mother said and he sighed as he hugged her. He wanted to get the whole crying-because-you-are-leaving-part over with. He was not in the mood for it.
"Bye, mom." He said and she let her go. 
"You're always welcome here, okay?" He nodded and gave her an awkward smile as he turned to Leonard. 
"It has been a pleasure to get to know you and I hope to see you soon." Jughead wanted to laugh at his stiff goodbye and he shrugged. He was not going to give this guy a hug. No way in hell. 
"Okay." Was his only reply. He hugged Glimmer goodbye and she put her small hands on his cheeks. 
"Byeeeeee." She squeaked and Jughead couldn't help but smile at her. He hated kids but she was...pretty decent. Leonard took Glimmer as Jughead looked at Jellybean. She looked at him with huge sad eyes. 
"Please don't go." She whispered. He took a step closer and took her into his arms. 
"This is not goodbye forever, Jellybean." Jellybean nodded.
"I know." She whispered. "I just don't want you to go." Jughead smiled. 
"I'll be back, okay?" 
"Promise?" Jughead nodded. 
"I promise." He hugged her for another minute before letting her go and walking towards his car. He heard someone running towards him from behind and he spun around only to find Jellybean running to him. "Jellybean..." He sighed as she buried her face in his shoulder. 
"Please Jughead, you don't have to go, you can live here. With me and mom and Glimmer." She cried. "Please don't leave me." Jughead bit his lip. 
"I'll be back before you know it, okay?" He heard Jellybean sob. 
"I love you." Jellybean mumbled through her sobbing.
"I love you too Jellybean." Jughead said and she let her go. 
"Say hi to your babe from me." Jughead smirked and rolled his eyes. 
"Shut up." She laughed as he sat down in the car and drove away. And she watched him do so. Hoping that one day, he would take her with him to Riverdale. Away from Leonard. 

He snuck into the trailer only to find his dad sitting on the couch. He drank from a huge bottle and Jughead sighed. 
"How was the trip?" Jughead shrugged and went straight to his room. He fell asleep on the bed a few minutes later. He had a dreamless night and woke up a few hours later when his alarm rang. He sighed as he walked outside to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. His head was pounding and all he wanted to do was stay home. But at the same time, he had to go to school. Not because of anything that actually had to do with school but to check up on Betty. He missed her so immensely. He wanted her back. Maybe...he would take her back? Maybe he wouldn't hurt her if he went back to her? He started his car and drove to school. As he walked inside the huge building he felt a weird feeling in his stomach. He didn't quite understand what it was or what it meant. But maybe it had to do with the fact that he would see Betty for the first time in a week? He looked around in the school and found Toni. 
"Hi." She said and Jughead looked at her. He rolled his eyes and she smiled. "Happy as always I see." 
"Shut up." 
"How was it? Meeting your sister." Toni asked and Jughead shrugged. 
"Good I guess." He didn't really want to talk about it. It was nothing special, he had met his sister, so what? He wanted to do one thing and one thing only. Make sure that Betty was okay. And he couldn't do that until he was in school. 

He walked inside the building holding his knife tight with his hand as he looked around. He was nervous and he didn't know why. Something made his hands shake and he couldn't seem to stop it. Toni hadn't said a word to him, she knew he needed some time alone. So she just left him alone. He looked around as he entered as if he tried to find someone. Which was true, he was trying to find her. And he did. His eyes fell on her immediately and when she turned around his heart broke. She was not fine, not at all. Not even in the slightest. Veronica had lied to him. Her eyes were puffy and red even though he saw that she had tried to cover them up. And her hands were shaking as much as his own. Her eyes, who were always filled with so much lust and love, were grey and almost lifeless. And when they met his he wanted to run to her, to tell her that no matter what was bothering her, he would make it okay. He would fix everything for her. He looked at her, stared at her, and knew that she wasn't okay. And something told him that maybe she never would be. 
"Jughead!" Toni shouted and he turned around. "Let's go." Jughead shook his head and his legs automatically brought him closer to Betty. She tried to get away but he managed to take her arm in his hand, something that seemed to hurt her, and pull her around. She faced him. And she looked broken. She looked so broken that it actually physically hurt him. 
"Betts?" He mumbled. Why did he leave her? He should've stayed with her, shouldn't have left her in the first place. How couldn't he have seen how broken she was? She didn't answer him, she just stared into his eyes. Something that sent him chills down his spine. She looked so broken, so...dead. "Can we talk?" Three simple words. Three simple words was all it took for her eyes to show any sign of life. And he could see how her eyes filled with hope. He loved her. Holy fuck, he really loved her. And at that very moment, he decided that he had to help her. And he had to love her, more than anyone had ever loved her. And in that very moment, he decided that he didn't care anymore. He didn't care if he might hurt her in the future. He promised himself not to. Because he couldn't stay away anymore. He was so in love with her and he needed her just as much as she needed him. He finally understood that he didn't hurt her by being with her, he hurt her by staying away. After a few seconds, she nodded and he pulled her into a classroom. 

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I am so sorry Betty. I love you." She looked at him, but she didn't seem to look convinced. The sight of hope that she had in her eyes was once again gone. And he didn't understand why. 
"Okay." She scoffed. She was not convinced. If only he had known what sort of hell she had been through. Trying to figure out what to do with her life without him. Cause she had finally understood that he wasn't in love with her anymore. That all he had said was true, except the words 'I love you'. And there was nothing that had ever hurt her more. Not even her sister's death had hurt her as much as that realization. He never loved her, at least that what was what she thought she knew. And that pained her. 
"Why aren't you happy?" He asked. Genuinely wondering why she wasn't happy. Wasn't that what she had been wanting to hear? That he loved her? He knew he had been wanting to tell her since the second he told her to get out of the house. 
"You expect me to believe that?" She laughed. Not a happy laugh. Not even close. It was a cold hateful laugh. A laugh that only can come from someone who has been hurt and who is hurting. A laugh filled with so much hatred that it actually felt as if someone had stabbed Jughead with a knife. 
"Yes, Betty." She laughed and asked him why. And he didn't understand why she was acting the way she was. He loved her. He really did, so why didn't she listen? "Because I do." He simply answered her question. He did. He really really did. 
"What did they tell you this time? That you couldn't score a Northsider who you've already fucked?" She scoffed and he bit his lip. He didn't understand what was happening. "Is that why you are doing this? Huh?" She yelled. "Is that why you are telling me this?" She started to cry. "Or is it because you want to hurt me even more? Is that your plan?" She yelled through her sobs. Jughead shook his head. 
"No, Betts..." He said and stepped closer to her. "I say that I love you because I do. I love you so much that it hurts." 
"Then why Jughead? Why did you say that you never loved me? That you fucked me to prove a point?" She cried. 
"To protect you." He said. It was true. He really tried to protect her, even though he couldn't. Even though he didn't do it the way she wanted to be protected. And even though it was the worst way he could've handled the situation. But he didn't know better. He had tried his best to protect her from all the evil. And he was the most evil, so naturally, he had tried to protect her from himself. She looked into his green eyes, shook her head and walked away. And before she closed the door, she turned to him and glared at him. 
"You're sick and I never ever want to see you again." Her face was filled with disgust and hate. And with those words she left him alone in the huge classroom. He looked at the door, waiting for her to come back. But she never did. Two minutes turned into an hour. And he just stood there, waiting. Unknowing of what to do or how to act. When that hour turned into two he realized that she wasn't coming back. And he realized that he had hurt her so bad that she was done with him. And that was when his life fell apart. When his heart broke. When the tables turned.

He left a note in her locker, hoping that if he couldn't make her feel better, then maybe a stranger could. And then he went home. Unknowing of the hell he would be put through without her. How he would fall apart. How he would hurt. How his entire life would just...make him want to die. 

For the first time, he understood how much he really hurt when someone broke your heart. 
For the first time, he understood just how much he loved her. 
For the first time, he understood just how much she had meant to him. 
For the first time, he understood that he couldn't live without her. 

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Sooooo, there'll be two more chapters of Them. And then it is finished

HOWEVER, I might be planning on a second book ;)