~Her~
What do you do? What do you do when a child you don't even know tell you something of such importance? How do you handle it? How do you save that child? How are you supposed to handle it? What would you do?
***
Betty walked inside the room again and sat down beside Jellybean. Jellybean was crying and even though the room was dark, Betty saw her tears. She hugged her tightly.
"Sch." She softly hushed her. "It's going to be okay." She reassured her. Jellybean cried into her chest and Betty stroke her hair. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll talk to Jughead." Jellybean nodded and lied down.
"Thank you, Betty." She whispered. Betty smiled at her as she tucked her in.
"Don't worry about it." It was weird, the whole situation was. It isn't what you would expect to happen on a Saturday. But Betty was happy Jellybean was safe. Even though she had promised herself never to talk to Jughead again she had to, and it made her sad and happy at the same time. She wanted to talk to him, of course, she wanted that, but she was afraid that he wouldn't answer. And that she would go straight back to him. But then again, she needed to talk to him, Jellybean needed help.
She sighed as she picked up her phone. Reggie had sent her a text asking if they could hang out soon. And before she knew it she had set a date with him. Someone she didn't even care about. Because maybe...he could make her forget all about Jughead.
Jughead's name was displayed as she clicked the 'call' button. The picture of him that appeared on the screen made her want to scream. Her heart was beating fast and she felt like throwing up. Before she even put the phone to her ear she heard a voice telling her that the number was no longer in use. She sighed as she looked at the ceiling, hands covering her face.
"Damn it." She whispered. Either she had blocked her or...or something had happened. She bit her lip and called Cheryl instead. She picked up immediately. And Betty sighed in relief.
"Cousin Betty, what a delight to hear your voice in the middle of the night." Cheryl said and Betty tried to figure out if she was serious or if she was joking. Betty could never tell when it came to Cheryl.
"I need to talk to Toni." Betty shortly said. If there was anyone in town who knew where the hell Jughead was it was Toni. And they lived right by each other, so she could check in on him and tell him to get his shit together and help his sister.
"Ugh, cousin Betty, she's with me right now, can't it wait til like..." Betty loved Cheryl, she really did, but at that moment she was about to flip out. She had to talk to Jughead.
"Cheryl!" Betty said and Cheryl sighed.
"Fine, fine. There's no need to sound so pissed." Cheryl mumbled. Betty could hear how Cheryl gave the phone to Toni.
"What's up?" Toni said and Betty walked downstairs to make sure that Jellybean wouldn't hear anything.
"Do you know where Jug is?" Betty asked. She was too close to a mental breakdown to pretend to be happy. Everything was just too much.
"Uhm...no? He said he'd be out of town again. So I would guess he's with his sister again?" Toni said hesitantly. Betty wanted to yell at her for giving her such bad advice.
"He isn't." Betty mumbled. "I think he blocked my number, tell him to call me as soon as fucking possible." Betty felt like losing it. Maybe because Jughead had blocked her number or maybe because his sister was sleeping in Polly's bed. But most probably because Leonard had been doing things to Jellybean. She couldn't believe that the sweet girl had been through so much. And Betty didn't have any idea what had happened to her, just that something had happened to her.
"Is everything okay?" Toni slowly asked. Betty wanted to yell at her. What the hell do you think when I call you in the middle of the night? You think I'm calling because 'everything is okay'? But she didn't yell. She just told Toni to talk to Jughead. To make him call her, told Toni that something had happened to his sister. She didn't say what it was though. Toni had nothing to do with that.
She sat down on the couch and placed her head in her hands. She felt so useless, so unimportant. How could Jughead just block her number? Did he move on? Was he fucking Melanie again? Did he love her? Was he telling her the truth? Why did everything have to be so hard all the time?
An hour later her phone rang and she quickly looked at the number. She had no idea who it was but she answered it immediately.
"Betty?" A dark, raspy voice said. And she felt the tears burning behind her eyes as she heard his voice. She felt so relieved.
"Jug." She whispered. "We..." She stopped as she felt her lips shivering and the tears filling her eyes. She opened and closed her mouth over and over again.
"What happened?" He said harshly. Something that made her feel even worse. "It's in the middle of the night and I have more important st-" She, involuntary, let out a sob and Jughead stopped talking. "Are you crying?" He asked after a few seconds and Betty let out another sob.
"You need to come to me. Something's happened." She mumbled through her tears. Was she supposed to tell him what happened? Was she supposed to tell him what Jellybean had told her? Was it fair to her? Should she let Jellybean tell Jughead?
"Betts-" The nickname made her heart beat faster. She loved when he called her that. It made her feel so...loved...and appreciated. "I don't think it's a good idea. I don't..." He hesitated and Betty waited for him to complete the sentence. "I don't want to kill you." Betty pinched her nose with her thumb and index finger.
"Didn't Toni...Jug-" The name tasted sweet in her mouth. And if only she knew how it made him feel. He wanted to kiss her. He missed her so so much. "Jellybean's here." She mumbled. And Jughead went quiet.
"My sister? Why is she...? Why would Jellybean...?" He stumbled on the words as he tried to figure out why his sister would be with Betty. "Is she okay?" Jughead finally asked. Betty felt like crying again. But she had to be strong.
"Jughead..." She started. But she had no idea what to say next. What do you say? Well, I mean right now she's okay. But she's been sexually assaulted by her stepdad. Betty couldn't say that. It wasn't fair to anyone.
"Betty? Is my sister okay?" Betty bit her inner cheek.
"I don't know. Just come here, please." Jughead told her that he was on his way. And he forced Betty to keep talking to him. Not that she didn't want to. She wanted to talk to him. Wanted to hear his voice. She told her everything about Jellybean coming to her house, everything but the thing. She avoided all of Jughead's question regarding why Jellybean was there. All Betty said was that Jellybean ran away from home and since Jug wasn't home she had decided to find Betty.
***
A silent knock on the door made its way through the house and Betty rushed to it. She took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. Jughead's bright green eyes met hers and she opened her mouth. But she was afraid to say something that she wasn't supposed to. So she just closed it again. He had big dark circles under his eyes, just like she had, and he looked like he had been crying.
He took her in his strong arms and hugged her tight, tight. He smelled like cigarettes and Betty knew that he had probably been smoking a lot during his way here. He let her go, way too fast, and she was about to lean into his chest again. But then she realized that he probably hated her, so she just put her hands in her pockets and smiled shyly at him.
"Do you want anything? Coffee?" Jughead nodded and gave her an awkward smile. Betty walked into the kitchen and he took off his jacket and eventually went into the kitchen.
"Where is she?" Jughead finally asked and Betty turned away from him. Placed her hands on the kitchen counter causing her shoulders to almost touching her ears. She leaned on her arms and stared outside.
"She's sleeping upstairs," Betty mumbled. "In Polly's room." Jughead's eyes grew wide, even though Betty couldn't see them.
"She's in your sister's room?" Jughead asked. Betty looked down on the sink and bit her lip.
"She needed somewhere to sleep. I wasn't gonna let her sleep on the couch Jug. And I changed the sheets...so there's nothing to worry about." Betty sighed. She didn't want to fight with Jughead and she didn't understand why it was such a big deal to him that she slept in Polly's room.
"No, no...I just meant...you don't let anyone in there." Jughead mumbled. "What I meant was...thank you." Betty turned to him and smiled slightly. "Is it okay if I go check on her?" Betty nodded.
"Yes, yes of course. Go. Just...don't wake her. It took some time before she fell asleep." Jughead nodded and gave Betty a smile that said thank you.
As Jughead went upstairs Betty fixed some coffee, extra dark, just like Jughead wanted it. Not that it tasted any different to her, it might just be that Jughead is too stubborn to see that it tastes the same. She stared at the huge tree outside, looked at the leaves as they moved in the wind. She wondered what it would feel like to be a leaf. And then she smiled a bit at her stupidity. Why did she always spend her time thinking about bullshit that no one gave a shit about?
When she heard Jughead come downstairs she poured the coffee into a cup and he looked at her with love in his eyes. Not that she noticed. She was busy looking at everything else in the room except for Jughead.
"She's sound asleep." He said and Betty nodded, still without looking at him. "Betty...what happened to her?" Betty took a sip of the hot coffee and tried to hide how the coffee burned her tongue.
"I think it's better if she tells you. It really isn't my place to tell. And I barely know anything." Jughead sighed and cracked his knuckles. "Listen, she'll tell you tomorrow and..." Jughead looked at her, waiting for her to continue, and Betty took a deep breath. "you can stay here if you want." Jughead nodded.
"Only if it's okay with you." He carefully said. Even though he knew he would stay no matter if Betty offered or not. He wanted to be close to Betty, he had really missed her. "I'll sleep on the couch...or on the floor." Jughead rapidly said and Betty smiled as she looked at him for the first time since she opened the door.
"Whatever works the best for you," Betty replied. Jughead decided that the couch was probably the best option so Betty helped him to make it a little more comfortable, gave him a pillow and a thick blanket. He shyly smiled at her and thanked her. She turned around to walk up the stairs to her own bedroom.
"Betty?" Jughead mumbled and Betty turned to face him. "Goodnight." He said and she looked down at the floor.
"Goodnight."
***
Somehow her dreams, nightmares, had gotten worse during the past few days. She no longer found Polly in the bed. Now she found Jughead. And that was way worse. And this night was no exception. She woke up from her own screams and felt someone shaking her.
"Betty! Wake up! It's just a dream!" The voice was terrified and Betty opened her eyes only to see Jellybean standing over her bed. When she realized that she was still screaming she put her hands over her mouth and forced herself to stop. She heard someone run up the stairs as she sat up and tried to catch her breath. Jughead rushed inside of the room, eyes wild and hair messy.
"Betts?" He gasped and as he saw Betty his green eyes turned more worried than scared. He sat down by her side and looked at Jellybean with a smile. "Go to bed, sweetie. I'll be there in a sec, okay?" Jellybean nodded and walked outside. Betty hid her face in her hands. Trying not to show Jughead that she was crying. "Hey." He whispered. "Are you okay?" He asked and Betty took a deep breath as she wiped away her tears. She nodded rapidly. "Is it the same dream?" Betty knew exactly what he was meaning. 'Is it the same dream as it was when you loved me?'
"Uhm...yes." She whispered. "But it's worse now." Her lip shivered and she bit it in an attempt to make it stop.
"It is?" She nodded and let out a sob. "How is it worse?" He asked. She looked at him.
"Instead of finding Polly...I...I find...you." All Jughead wanted to do was take her in his arms but he was afraid he would hurt her. The words she had said to him still haunted him. So he laid a hand on her shoulder, trying his best to comfort her. "I'm sorry." She giggled through her tears. "It's probably not what you want to hear from your..." She stopped talking. How was she supposed to label herself? What was she to him?
"No, no, it's fine." Jughead said slowly. "Well...goodnight then." He stood up and walked out of her room.
"Stay." She whispered and he stopped. "Please Jug, I haven't slept since...since I moved back home." She carefully said, hoping that the sentence wouldn't start a fight. Jughead turned around and walked back into her room. She moved to the right side of the bed and he sat down on the left.
"Okay." He whispered. He was relieved that she wanted him there. Because he had had trouble sleeping too. Not that he had had any nightmares but he just couldn't sleep without her. When he laid down Betty placed her head on his chest. She closed her eyes and he started to play with her hair. Before she knew it she fell asleep and eventually, so did Jughead.
***
Betty woke up the next day without Jughead in her bed and she sighed. It must have been a dream. She walked downstairs and saw Jughead making an omelet and he probably just made one of his stupid jokes because Jellybean was smiling as she rolled her eyes and giggled slightly. The same reaction that Betty used to have when he told her the bad jokes. Betty almost passed out as she saw Jughead's messy hair and him in only shorts and a t-shirt. He was so hot. But before she could keep staring at him Jellybean turned her head and gave Betty a huge smile as she ran to her. And Betty hugged her tightly.
"Goodmorning sweetie." Betty said and Jellybean smiled at her.
"Thank you for talking to Jughead and making him come here." She whispered and Betty smiled back at her. Jughead told them that breakfast was ready and they all sat down by the table. Betty's phone rang and she made a sign to Jughead and Jellybean to be quiet.
"Hi mom," Betty said and her mom told her she would be out of town for a few days, something about an article or something. Betty didn't really listen. All she knew was that her mom would be out of town for a few days, and that was all she really needed to know.
"Who was that?" Jughead asked and Betty took a bite of her omelet. It tasted amazing and a moan escaped her mouth. She covered her mouth and Jellybean started to laugh.
"Sorry, this was really really good." Betty said and smiled. "And to...uhm...answer your question that was my mom. She will be out of town for another week."
"Which means I can stay here for another week." She exhaled and Betty laughed. Jughead just gave his sister a weird look.
"Speaking of that...why...are you here?" Jughead asked and Betty's laugh disappeared. Jellybean's bright eyes turned dark and sad and Betty cleared her throat.
"I'll...uhm...I'll leave you two to it." Betty said and placed her hands on the table to stand up but Jellybean laid a hand on Betty's and she looked at Jellybean.
"Please don't go." Jellybean whispered and Betty nodded. Jughead looked at both of the girls with worry in his eyes. Jellybean looked at everything but Jughead and Betty.