Alone Together | Bughead Oneshots

Sleep

Charles doesn't exist. Periodt.

TW: insomnia, gun violence, PTSD

Timeset: after 3x22

That night in the woods traumatized all four of the teens, Archie, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead, but Betty left with the most PTSD. Hal Cooper was shot in the head right in front of her, and serial killer or not, he was still her father.

And the storm was still chaotic even after the sun rose and the four made it safely home. Betty's mom and sister were MIA after The Farm's Ascension Night, leaving her practically an orphan.

Everytime her eyes closed, Betty remembered the feel of the gun in her hands, the grunt her father made after she'd shot his pinkie and ring finger off. She saw his corpse on the ground after Penelope had her shot at him and no matter how hard she tried, the only way to get rid of those pictures was to open her eyes, and even that didn't do the trick. 

Betty sat in bed, her head on her pillow and "My Story" by Marilyn Monroe in her hands as she read her favorite chapter over and over. "About ready for bed?" Jughead asked, reaching for the lamp. "A few more minutes, please," Betty replied, turning the page.

"You've read that chapter three times in the last 30 minutes, Betts. You need to get some sleep," he replied with a bit of a chuckle. "We both know I can't," she said solemnly, her eyes scanning over page 88. 

"Okay, how about this," Jughead muttered, taking the book from Betty's hands and pulling her to lay her tired head on his chest as he began to read aloud to her. "'I was still flying from that world, and it was still around me. It was while I lay on this ocean bottom, figuring never to see daylight again'..." he paused, those sentences alone making him realize why she'd been consistently rereading only this chapter.

"Keep going," Betty encouraged, cuddling up to Jughead's side. "...'that I fell in love for the first time. I'd not only never been in love, but I hadn't ever dreamed of it. It was something that existed for other people -- people who had families and homes.'"

He stopped again, looking down at her in his arms and said. "I think it's time to go to bed." Betty only whined in response as Jughead reached for the lamp. "I'm gonna turn the light off, okay?" he asked cautiously, due to how fragile she was after everything.

Betty gave a sigh and nodded, then with a click, darkness filled the room as Jughead wrapped both arms around her, holding her close while she adjusted her legs under the covers. "I got you, okay, baby? Nobody can hurt you," he coaxed, kissing the top of her head.

"I need you to get some sleep, baby." "My eyes won't close," she remarked dully. Jughead let out a little chuckle and replied, "I'm sure they will, baby." "I don't wanna sleep." "You haven't slept in a week, Betts. You need some rest, okay?"

Betty shook her head in response, saying, "He just dropped, Jug. One second, he's breathing and the next he's...he's got a bullet in the head and he's on the ground." Jughead sighed at her words, remembering the terrifying cries she screamed once Penelope pulled the trigger and how he and Veronica raced to her, catching her as she fell and turning her head away so that she didn't have to see it.

"I know, babygirl," he replied softly, stroking her arms gently. "I know." After a few seconds of silence, Betty started murmuring to herself, almost like a prayer, but as Jughead listened closely, he heard what she was reciting. "'...It was still around me. It was while I lay on this ocean bottom, figuring never to see daylight again...'"

"Baby, close your eyes. "I can't, Jug. I can't stop seeing it." He sighed and pulled her in closer, resting his chin on top of her head. "Do you want me to sing to you?" he suggested gently. "It won't work," she replied pessimistically. "Nothing will."

"And besides, you don't sing," Betty said, slightly lifting her head. "If there's even the smallest chance it'll make you fall asleep, I'm willing to do it," Jughead replied with a bit of a chuckle. She yawned sleepily and cuddled up to his chest, giving him a sense of hope of "Maybe she will sleep tonight."

---

Jughead had fallen asleep at least two hours before Betty had even considered she should do the same. She inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before her eyes shut and she saw black nothingness, falling into the World of dreaming.

"You know how this has to end. You have to kill me, Betty. That's your heart, that's your truth; you can't deny your destiny," Hal spoke before pulling out his gun from his jacket as Betty raised and aimed hers. "Don't make me do this. Please," she pleaded with tears in her eyes as she found herself facing her father's gun. "Either kill me and get the antidote, or I will kill you and your friends," He instructed. "you have 'til the count of three. Either you shoot me or I shoot you." "One," Hal counted as Betty gulped, her hands shaking. "Two." Time wasn't stopping for anyone, certainly not the blonde who found her body frozen when she tried to cock the gun and place her finger against the trigger. "Three," Hal said, walking over to Betty, paralyzed in fear and anxiety and grabbed her by the arm as the others rushed over to help her. He shot Archie first, the bullet landing in his gut and causing him to collapse to the ground. Then Veronica caught a slug in her chest, sending her down in a backward fall as her pulse weakened until it just wasn't there anymore. Then, it was Jughead's turn; Hal shot him in both legs, making him fall to his knees, calling out for Betty before he was left as a corpse with a gunshot wound between the eyes. She was still frozen and trembling, not being able to scream or fight back; all she could do was try to process watching her best friends and the love of her life be murdered in cold blood by her very own father. "Now you get to join them," Hal spoke, turning to look at Betty before pressing the end of his gun against her temple and saying, "Bye-bye, Betty," before he pulled the trigger.

Betty shot up from her sleep, pulling herself out of Jughead's grasp and screaming as she cried viciously, painful ringing in both of her ears. "What? What is it, Betts?" Jughead asked frantically, sitting up with her and turning on the light. 

She turned to look at him, quickly wrapping her arms around him and sobbing, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I let him kill you. I let you die." "What do you mean, baby? What are you talking about?" he asked worriedly. 

"It was that night, and he counted to three, but I couldn't move and I couldn't talk and so he just grabbed me and he killed Archie, and then Veronica, and he shot you in the head and I just let him--" "Baby, it was just a nightmare, okay? That's all it was; just a bad dream."

Betty nodded as she sniffled and dried her tears, looking into Jughead's eyes miserably before he pressed her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her securely, kissing the top of the blonde's head.

"I'm so proud of you for getting some sleep, but I'm so sorry you had to dream that," he coaxed gently, laying back down with her in his arms. "Do you want me to leave the light on tonight?" Jughead asked softly as Betty cuddled up to his chest. She nodded and mumbled, "Yes please," resting her hand on his chest.

"Do you wanna finish up that chapter?" he asked, running his hand up and down her arm. She nodded before Jughead reached beside him to grab Betty's book from the nightstand, opening to page 89 and reading the words aloud.