Poison | Jughead Jones

Chapter thirty three

Toledo

Bellas hands rested against Jugheads shoulders, the pair uncharacteristically partaking in a school dance. Mary had helped Bella with her makeup and hair, with the help of a few pins and hair ties.

"Are you going to tell me what happened back there?" Jughead hummed, pulling the girl closer as the music slowed down once more. Pea grinned sheepishly, fingers gently toying with the boys shirt collar as if to distract him.

"It was nothing." She replied, hoping he would drop the topic like he always had when she didn't want to talk.

"Bullshit."

Apparently this time the topic was not going to be dropped.

"I'm sorry?" Bella furrowed her eyebrows, hands going limp as if to recoil from his touch.

"I thought things would be different now Bella. That you'd trust me enough to tell me what is going on in your head. And yet it looks like you never will." Jughead retorted grumpily, But his hands stayed firm on her waist, telling her he wasn't going to let her go so easily.

"Jug- it's not..."

"not like that? Then why won't you tell me why you left two years ago? Why won't you tell me why you have panic attacks in the weirdest moments? Why won't you let me in?"

Bella pushed herself away from the teen, eyes wide and doe like. It was all coming from nowhere, like a self destruct button gone wild. But she couldn't put him through what she had gone through, and she'd rather let him believe she swanned off on a whim.

"What's this really about, Jug? What's going on?" Pea pleaded, ignoring the curious stares they received from their brawl in the middle of the dance.

"Nothings going on Bella. Nothing is going on because you won't let anything go on. I was stupid thinking you'd finally let me in. I guess there really is nothing stopping me from moving to Toledo." Before Bella could respond, an angry and confused Jughead Jones bolted for the door. Tears pricked at her eyes as she watched him disappear, trying to catch up with what was suddenly going on with them.

"Jughea- Toledo! What the hell are you talking about?" She yelled after him, grabbing the hem of her dress and sprinting after the boy who had almost left.

They made it to the hallway, door slamming against the crumbling wall as the pair raced to the exit, Jessebelle ready to follow wherever he went. But suddenly he stopped, swiping the tears from his cheeks and shaking away the pain rippling through his body.

"Guys? What's going on?" He sounded confused, talking to the huddle that were rambling in hushed tones about something the cooper girl was angry with.

"Jug-..." Bella whined, ignoring the three others that the boy had stopped for and trying to grab his attention. He shook her off, eyes narrowed to the group that awkwardly smiled their way.

"Why do I suddenly feel left out?" Jughead pressed further, stepping closer to the Scooby gang and therefore further from Jessebelle.

"Do you want to tell him or should I?" Betty ground her teeth, shooting Archie and Veronica a bitter look as the redhead shrunk his frame.

"We went to your dads trailer..."

"... to search it."

Veronica and Archie bowed their heads in regret, scared for what the two southsiders would think at their idiotic behaviour.

"Why would you guys do that?" Jughead mumbled, caught off guard and overwhelmed by everything going on.

"My mum put them up to it." Betty explained further, swallowing a large lump resting in her throat as Jugheads expression turned sour.

"She was convinced he was hiding something about Jason." She tried to help him comprehend, but his gaze simply fell back to the brunette behind him, hoping she had nothing to do with this too. Bella shook her head, eyes glassed with tears as things began to pile up on her shoulders. The weight unbearable.

"But we were wrong." Veronica added, nodding furiously as if to clarify they found nothing.

"We didn't find anything." Archie continued, the pair for whatever reason adding to each others sentences.

"We only did it to prove your dad..."

"...wasn't a murderer?"

Jug was shaking, his hands balled in fists and lip quivering from anger.

"You could've told me, you could've warned me!" He spat, piecing together what had happened all in one evening. An evening he thought would end in telling Jessebelle he loved her.

"You were so excited to take Bella to the dance Jug, I didn't want to-." Betty pouted, trying to dig her way out of the mess all three had made.

"So instead you lied?" Jughead shouted, eyes darting back and forth from the three in front and the girl nearly sobbing behind him.

"You all lied to me?"

Bella wanted to fight her corner, to stop him from thinking she didn't trust him. That she didn't love him. But Kevin sped down the corridor, a few parents in tow as they all leapt toward the teens in desperation.

"Thank god Betty!" Alice cooper cried, attempting to hug her daughter as she was shrugged to one side instead.

"Mum, don't..." Betty groaned, gaze fixated on the boy that was about to erupt in anger.

"No you have to listen to me. All of you." Alice caught everyone's attention in the dramatic way she was prone to do. Each teen waited for her response, more than a few disheveled looks shared between them.

"My dad just told Mayor McCoy about your dad, Jughead." Kevin expanded, ignoring alices sigh from being interrupted. Jughead froze, his mind already swamped with what the hell was going on that night at Riverdale High.

"What about my dad?" He muttered, awaiting another cynical criticism of the trailer park alcoholic.

"He was just arrested." Fred Andrews grimly noted, a wash of disappointment within his tone.

"For the murder of Jason Blossom."

As the words left Alices lips, it took a moment for each teen to react. Jessebelle raised her eyebrows, shocked at the allegation she knew not to be true. Well at least hoped was not to be true.

The three scooby doo members gasped, horror embedded into their facial features at the memory of a murderer etched into their minds. But Jughead stayed vacant. His lips fell into a flat line, and he blinked. Bella could almost see his brain whirring, catching up with the words that had fallen into the air.

She went for his hand, to ensure she was still there for him no matter if he hated her. But as his body began to react, his hand jolted away. His feet started running before his mind, needing it all to be confirmed. No one bothered to chase after him, except for Bella who began to weep  once again.

"Juggy." She called out for him, but two large hands kept her back. Fred Andrews, fully aware that neither Jughead nor Bella were in a safe mental frame of mind to console the other, tightened his grip against her arms.

Weakly, she fought back. But all her energy was drained from the constant confrontation, and soon all she could hear were the soothing words of Mary Andrews.

•••

76k!

Yes I changed the title, I hope you like it.
Do we want this story to wind up for end of season one or would you guys like Bellas story to continue?

Thank you for reading x