What We Once Were: A Bughead Fanfic

Chapter 21.

"Love!" Betty said, her voice hoarse but true. "I still love him, and I haven't stopped, not even a little bit." She declared, infuriating her kidnapper.

"When are you going to wake up and realize that he doesn't love you either. He's still so caught up in the past, he doesn't love the new and real you, like I do. And soon, you'll forget about him."

"I'll never love you. I should've told Jughead the truth last night."

"Don't use him to rile me up, you love me too, you just don't know it yet." Dodger growled.

"I've never loved you Dodger, I've never even liked you, especially after you tried to murder Jughead, and now you've killed three innocent girls."

"Silence!" Dodger shouted, but Betty continued to shout.

"JUGHEAD! Jughead I'm down here! I'm right here! I need—"

Without any warning whatsoever, Dodger punched Betty. She yelped and shrieked at the sound of something cracking. When she tried to open her mouth to speak, her jaw sent a searing pain throughout her body, setting off every one of her nerves in her body. Tears slipped down her face and it hurt even more when her jaw quivered before she began to cry even more.

"You're mine Betty baby, you'll eventually learn to love me and want me in the ways I want you. But for now, desperate times call for desperate measures." He chuckled darkly, slithering towards her to kiss her bruised lips.

"Get the hell away from her!" A familiar voice ordered, making Betty's heartbeat pick up.

"Jones, what the hell are you doing here?" Dodger slowly closed his eyes in aggravation.

"You really thought I wouldn't come for Betty?" Jughead clutched a switchblade in his right fist so tightly the veins in his hand began to pop out.

"I expected you to arrive too late. But now, I guess you can now witness that I've finally taken what is rightfully mine."

"Betty's not yours, she never has and never will be. Now step away from her." Jughead demanded, taking a few steps forward.

"Not likely." In no time wasted, Dodger whirled around and pressed his lips to Betty's.

Jughead lunged forward and tackled Dodger to the ground. He pulled his switchblade and slashed him across the old scar that Jughead had given him years ago.

Dodger groaned in pain at his old wound being reopened and fury overtook him as he now pinned Jughead to the ground, giving everything he had to punch and pummel the nuisance below him.

Jughead had successfully dodged all the punches Dodger threw his way but the one he needed to avoid, was the one he missed. With his right fist, Dodger clobbered Jughead's right eye. He felt it already swelling and Dodger proceeded to hit him like Jughead was the punching bag.

With one final blow, Dodger caught Jughead's forehead, knocking him out cold on the ground. Betty screeched and whimpered at his defeat. Dodger stood up to go retrieve his knife that had been kicked across the room.

With tears stinging in Betty's eyes, she whimpered as she untied one of her arms, she knew that Dodger had broken her jaw with his punch. She also knew that what she was about to do was going to hurt as she rested her hand in her jawline and clicked it back into place. "Jughead. Juggie, wake up please. I need you."

Betty untied herself and ran to his aid, she fell to her knees and brushed his raven locks from his bruised face. "Wake up Juggie, I need you to wake up. Please." She whispered, another wave of tears and sobs began to overtake her.

Betty felt a cold hand on her shoulder and she jerked around to face Dodger with a sickening grin on his face as he held his blade in his fist. "No!" She cried, wrapping her arms around Jughead, "don't touch him!"

"Elizabeth, get away from him, or he won't be the only one who gets hurt."

"Then kill me and leave Jughead alone!" Betty sobbed with tears rolling down her bruised cheeks.

"Like I would do that." Dodger rolled his dark eyes.

Betty stood up, courage raging through her veins, "if you want to get to him, you'll have to go through me first."

Dodger howled with laughter, "you're so weak Betty baby."

Betty lunged at him and tackled Dodger to the cement floor. With strength she didn't even know she had, she pinned him down on the ground with all her might; unsure of how much longer she could him down. "Is that all you've got Betty baby?" A wicked grin crossed his face.

Betty didn't answer as Dodger quickly flipped them over, him now trapping her between the concrete floor and himself. Betty struggled and resisted but she was losing the battle. "It's so cute that you try baby, but now, I guess I'll have to kill you too."

Dodger raised the blade centimeters from her eye and Betty could feel its chilling presence lingering near, she continued to resist but shut her eyes, her mind racing with thoughts of her daughter whom she was now leaving behind.

She waited for the darkness and blackness to consume her but it never came. She felt a weight being thrown off her followed by the sounds of grunting and groaning. Betty opened her eyes and watched in horror at the sight of a wounded Jughead Jones attacking Dodger with everything he had left in him. Blood dripped and pooled around the two gang leaders as they cut and hit each other.

Betty stood up and stumbled over to help Jughead but Dodger knew she'd come. He turned around and uppercutted her in the gut, followed by a blow to her head. Betty fell to the ground with a 'thud' and the ear splitting ringing in her ears clouded her mind.

At this, Jughead accumulated a burst of anger and aggression at the sight of Betty falling to the ground in pain. Jughead roared as he gripped his knife and slashed open Dodger's calf. Dodger yelled and retreated back from Jughead but he wasn't through with Dodger yet. Jughead slashed him again, slicing the knife up his other side and cut his thigh. Dodger tumbled down and Jughead gave him one final blow to the head to knock him unconscious as Dodger lay on the ground in a puddle of his dark blood.

Jughead threw down his knife and took a few deep breathes to regain control of himself after what he'd just done. Then he heard Betty cough and wheeze and Jughead dropped to her side, cradling her in his arms.

She looked up at him with black and blue, swollen eyes and a bruised face, the aftermath of Dodger's abuse. There was dry blood in her blonde hair and he noticed that her calf was bleeding badly. Her lips were swollen, cut and purple, her clothes were ripped, dirty and grimy, but Jughead had never been so thankful to hold her in his arms.

"I thought—" Betty stuttered in a voice hardly louder than a whisper, "I thought you wouldn't come for me."

Jughead brushed a strand of hair out of her face and felt his lips curve up into a small smile, "no matter what happens, I'll always be here for you Betts. We're partners, in the serpents, and in life remember?"

Betty laughed softly then winced at the pain it caused her, Dodger had kicked and hit her in so many places she wasn't sure she could move. "I remember." She sighed, "Juggie?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

"I was afraid." It was hard for Betty to get the words out, she could feel herself slipping away from him, but she couldn't, she wouldn't leave him, never again. "I was afraid to get hurt by you again, I was afraid to hurt Juliet, I was afraid to love you again because that's the only thing I've ever been scared of, was loving you." She confessed.

"Betty—"

"Jughead Jones, I love you, and I...never stopped." Betty's voice died off and she closed her eyes, feeling her breathing slow down as she fell into the darkness, the last thing she heard was Jughead's voice calling her name and the sound of a door being thrown open.

A/N: an update! It's about time am I right? What do you all think? Only a few more chapters left and my college days are about to begin! I'm determined to finish the book before school starts, next update coming soon!