Lost (in Your Emerald Eyes)

S E V E N

"A cherry milkshake, but can I get more ice cream on it?"

Betty smiled at the little boy, writing it down while asking, "You mean whipped cream?"

"Uh-huh, the one on the top."

"Okay," she chuckled and, looking at his father, asked, "something else?"

"No, that's it for now. Thank you," the man said.

Nodding, she said, "The food might take a bit longer than usual, we're lacking workers right now."

"Alright, that's okay."

Betty nodded and walked back towards the counter, eyes sliding over the booths in front of her, as always, checking if anyone needed anything. The blonde momentarily froze as she saw the boy in the booth, staring at her as always. Neither of them smiled as their eyes met, but when she went to hand Pop the new order, she could hear his boots moving against the ground, towards her.

Jughead sat on the stool behind the counter, right next to the blenders she made the milkshakes in. The girl kept facing the other wall for as long as possible, gathering all the ingredients, and when she knew she couldn't ignore him anymore, turned around, holding her eyes on her work, trying not to acknowledge his presence.

That resulted to be difficult as he spoke up, though. "Hi."

Raising her eyes to look at him, she gave him a small smile, "Hi," and turned back to work.

"What're you making?"

"Milkshakes."

Shaking his head a bit, Jughead cringed at himself a bit and leaned towards her. "I'm sorry I was such a dick in the morning," he quietly said.

Moving her eyes to his face, Betty could tell he was being sincere and shrugged as if it was nothing. "It's okay, I deserved it."

Frowning, Jughead shook his head. "What? No, how?"

Betty chuckled quietly, sounding more like a huff to herself, and said, "I don't know, I guess I should've just minded my own business."

The confusion was clear on the boy's face, so she turned on the blender, cleaning everything up rapidly while being awkward, and as she poured the drink into a glass, he spoke up again. "You were just trying to help, Betty."

Shuddering at the way he said her name, she met his eyes again. "Well, yeah... I'm sorry if... I don't know," she sighed.

"I really appreciated you helping me, though," Jughead said, earning a small smile from the blonde whose brain was running a mile a minute. Why was he being so nice? "I was angry at myself and I know you were trying to help, and you did. So, again, I'm sorry."

"Why were you angry?" she frowned, focusing on the whipped cream she covered the milkshake with, getting ready to pop a cherry on it.

"Honestly, every guy would be embarrassed if they fell in front of a beautiful girl."

Her lips quirked a bit, cheeks growing hot, and as she gazed back at the guy, he was wearing one of the genuine smiles on his face that she had a feeling not many people saw very often. "I'll be right back," Betty murmured, grabbing the glass, and poking a straw into it.

"So, I didn't consider you the kind of person who'd wake up early in the morning," the girl said as she walked back to him, having summoned up some more courage in her.

"Yeah, I'm usually not. Just... couldn't sleep today and the weather looked nice, I guess."

"It's been raining the whole day," Betty said, looking like she didn't believe it much.