~Him~
"I'd take down the moon for you." A rather common phrase. We all have that person that makes us want to take down the moon for them. And in a way, we would try to if they just asked us. Because they deserve everything, even the moon. But you can't give them everything, you can't take down the moon for them.
***
It had been almost two weeks since they left the hospital. Jughead had talked with his dad about getting his shit together, yelled at him, cried, begged him to stop drinking. And FP did, he stopped every day, but then every time Jughead got home from school or from Betty he found his dad drunk off his ass. Which meant that Jughead always had to let his sister down. He heard the excitement in her voice every day when she asked if she could come live with Jughead and FP but all he could say was 'soon'. He heard her heart break a little every time he did.
Jughead opened the door, let go of Betty's hand and walked inside. His dad lied on the couch and he sighed. Betty walked to the table and placed the takeaway food on it.
"Dad?" He mumbled but FP didn't answer. "Dad?" He once again said, walking closer to the couch. It smelled of liquor and vomit. His eyes wandered over his dad's body. He was sweating like crazy and it looked as if he was trying to catch his breath.
"Mr. Jones?" Betty said as she walked closer. She looked worried and Jughead wondered what had happened while they were at school.
"Wake up, asshole." Jughead hit his dad softly on the shoulder but got no response. No matter how mad he was that his dad was drinking until he forgot his own name Jughead was now getting worried. Something seemed wrong.
Betty got a glass of cold water and gave it to Jughead who just splashed it in his dad's face.
A silent murmur left FP's mouth and he slowly opened his eyes. His hand's flew to his face and he glared at Jughead.
"What the..." He mumbled slowly. "What are you doing?" He was wasted, so so so wasted.
Jughead sighed and felt the intense fear of losing his dad turned into hate and disgust.
"Fuck off." Jughead mumbled.
"What did you say?" FP sat up on the couch and he tried his best to focus his bloodshot eyes on Jughead.
"I said fuck off." Jughead said through gritted teeth. FP stood up on weak legs and stared at Jughead.
"You do not get to say that to me." He stumbled on the words, messing them all up. It was almost impossible for anyone who didn't know him to actually understand what he was saying.
"You are literally ruining everything you touch, fucking up everything and everyone around you." Jughead said and FP raised his hand. Before he could hit Jughead he caught FP's hand and they stood face to face.
Jughead stared into the dead eyes of his dad. The eyes that once held so much joy, that lit up his own eyes every time he was sad and hurt, the eyes that once saw the world so colorful. Now, the eyes were grey and bloodshot. Filled with pain and suffer and alcohol. And no matter how much those eyes once comforted him he could do nothing but hate them right now.
"Shut your mouth. I am doing whatever I can to fucking provide for you." Betty backed a few centimeters and stared at the two men.
"You are not providing for me, you are drinking up all of our money. My money."
"I deserve a drink every now and then."
"Every now and then?" Jughead yelled. "Every fucking now and then my ass. You drink every fucking day. And it is ruining so many lives."
"Only my own. And that is not much."
"You are ruining my life, Jellybean's life, and mom's life." Jughead's eyes filled with tears. "Don't you see that?" Jughead's lip trembled as he kept yelling. "Jellybean fucking needs us right now. And all you fucking do is drink."
"What do you mean 'she needs us right now'?" FP asked and he lowered his arm.
"Shit sucks, she needs somewhere to stay." Jughead was afraid to go into more detail than that.
"What happened?" FP demanded to know what was going on and Jughead looked at Betty.
"She just needs you right now and she needs the sober you." Betty softly said. "We will help you, okay?" She walked closer and took FP's hand. "And when you get better Jellybean can stay here with the two of you?" FP nodded and Betty hugged him tightly.
Jughead could do nothing but stare at his beautiful girl and the mess that was his dad. There was something about Betty's soft way of talking that seemed to be able to calm the entire world. It was as if the second she started to talk everything just stopped and everyone seemed to listen.
***
"Come on." Jughead said as he took Betty's hand. FP had gone to bed and they had cleaned the living room. Betty looked at Jughead as he smirked at her.
"Where are we going?" She asked softly and he smirk grew larger.
"You'll see." She giggled as he dragged her into the night.
***
Betty climbed off of Jughead's bike and looked around. She knew they were somewhere by Sweetwater river. Jughead watched as Betty took off his helmet, the black one with a little crown on it, and how her hair flowed in the wind. He smiled at her, the person he loved the most.
Jughead softly took her hand and led her into the woods. And she just let herself be taken somewhere else. The trees grew closely and soon they couldn't see the road. The light had a hard time getting through the trees and both of them knew that that day would probably be the last hot one before the winter. Eventually, the trees started to grow further apart and the light was allowed to touch the bright green grass. The grove that they had gotten to was big and in one of the corners, Sweetwater river had turned into a small lake filled.
She looked at the huge trees, covered in moss and mushrooms. The light that touched the water made it look as if the water was made of gold.
"When I was little I used to run here whenever mom and dad fought. Or sometimes when dad was so drunk that he couldn't even remember my name." He bit his lip. "I always sat there." He pointed to a big tree crotch. "Crying like a baby."
"It's beautiful here," Betty said after a few seconds of silence.
"Yeah. You should see it in the middle of the night. When the moon shines on the water...it's stunning." Betty smiled.
"I can imagine."
"Wanna go for a swim?" He said with a smirk. Betty gave him a goofy smiled.
"Yeah of course." She said sarcastically.
"No, seriously." She looked at him for a few seconds.
"It's cold."
"This little lake never gets cold." He lied.
"You just want me to take off my clothes." He smirked and took off his beanie, shoes and Serpent jacket. She watched him closely as he took off his hoodie, black t-shirt, and his jeans.
"Come on Betts." Betty looked hesitantly at Jughead.
"I'm literally gonna throw you in the water unless you get in by yourself."
"I don't have any bathing suit Jug." Jughead shrugged and smiled at her.
"So?" He smirked. "Come on Elizabeth, don't be a coward." He walked closer to her, grabbed her waist and looked her in the eyes.
"I..." He leaned in closer and pulled her towards him.
"Don't you want to get wet around me Cooper?" Betty exhaled shakingly.
"I..." She tried again but he cut her off with a kiss. Carefully he undresses her. Then he gently took her wrists and dragged her down to the water. Slowly and carefully he placed her on top of him and she kissed him. Her tongue colliding with his.
He places his hands on her hips and she rocked her hips teasingly against his boxers. He groaned. The water was cold against their bare skin but they kept each other warm. Betty stopped and Jughead looked at her.
"What's wrong?" He asked and she turned her face away.
"I uhm...there's something I need to tell you." She whispered and Jughead's expression showed a quick look of fear.
"You're not breaking up with me now are you?" Betty smiled shyly and shook her head.
"No..." She sighed. "But something happened..."
"Do I have to kill someone?" Jughead asked and Betty shook her head again. "Hey, look at me. What happened?" Jughead made her look right into his bright green eyes. She looked scared and as if she was ashamed of something. "Tell me, sweetie." He softly said. For a second it was as if her whole way of being changed. She shook her head and just smiled at him.
"Nothing...I just realized how much I missed it being just the two of us." Jughead frowned. He knew there was something else she wanted to say. She could see it on her face. But he wasn't going to force her to tell him. She leaned in closer and kissed him.
He slid her panties to the side, carefully pushing his fingers inside of her.
"Oh my...Jughead." She moaned his name and he smirked.
"Do you love me?" He whispered in her ear. Watching as all of her hairs stood up he kept pumping his fingers in and out of her.
"Mmh." She moaned as she bit her lip.
"Say it, say that you love me and only me."
"I love you, Jughead, and only you." She whispered as she came. Jughead smiled at her and laughed.
"What is it?" She asked as she tried to catch her breath.
"You are so beautiful. God, I fell in love with the most beautiful girl in the entire world."
"Juggie..." Betty softly said.
"No...I don't think you understand. The way you make me feel...I have never ever felt as happy as I do when I look at you." Betty wrapped her wet arms around Jughead and hugged him tightly.
"I love you, I love you so much," Betty whispered. "And you make me the happiest too."
***
"If you want to you can stay." Betty said as she climbed off the bike. Jughead smiled at her as she took off his helmet and let her hair fall out.
"I think I should go home and check on my dad." Jughead said and Betty nodded.
"You know he's not your responsibility, right?" Jughead nodded.
"He is. He's my dad, Betty."
"You're his responsibility, but he isn't yours, Jughead. You're not supposed to be taking care of him. It's not your job." Jughead sighed and shrugged.
"He's my dad. I mean I hate him and he has hurt me, he really has. But he's my dad, I can't just leave him." Betty nodded. She understood.
"Okay." She softly said. "I'm gonna miss you tonight." Jughead stood up and kissed her forehead.
"I'm gonna miss you too babe." She wrapped her arms around him and he buried his face in her hair. It was still damp and smelled a bit lake-y but he liked it.
"Goodbye." She said and he watched her walk inside. He sighed deeply as her door was shut and buried his face in his hands. He was exhausted.
***
"What's up, Jelly." Jughead teased as he picked up the phone.
"JB or Jellybean. Jelly sounds disgusting." She sighed and Jughead laughed. "So...can I come?" Jughead knew she was going to ask and he looked at the door to his dad's bedroom.
"I...don't think it's a good time yet," Jughead mumbled. He opened one of the cabinets to take a glass of water but only found an empty whiskey bottle. He took it and stared at it while wondering when his dad drank it.
"Do you even want me to come?" Jellybean asked. She sounded pissed off.
"Of course I do." Jughead said. "JB I love you and I want you here. I really do. It's just..."
"Not a good time, yeah, you've said. But why?" Jughead sighed and threw the empty bottle in the trash.
"Because...dad is not...he..." Jughead wasn't sure whether telling his sister about his dad's drinking problems would be a good idea. "It doesn't matter why, you just can't come yet. Okay? I want you here, I do, but not right now. It wouldn't be fair to you." Jughead said.
"You don't want me there?" Jellybean whispered with a faint voice and Jughead instantly regretted his choice of words.
"No, I..." A click and then nothing. "Fuck!" Jughead slammed his fist into the wall and screamed. He tried to call Jellybean a few times but she didn't pick up. Eventually, he gave up and put his hand in some cold water.
A loud knock on the door made Jughead turn the water off and sigh heavily. He opened the door and found Alice standing outside. Her eyes grew wide when she saw Jughead.
"What are you doing here?" They both said in unison. Jughead stared at her.
"I uhm live here?" He answered and he couldn't help but think about how similar Alice and Betty were. "Now you answer."
"Oh I...was...is your father here?"
"Yeah. He's passed out. Wasted as usual." Alice slowly nodded and then looked down at Jughead's hand.
"You're bleeding." She mumbled and Jughead shrugged.
"I know." She looked back up at him with a look that almost looked like worry.
"What happened?" Alice asked and Jughead wondered why she cared so much.
"Had a fight with my sister. Got pissed. Slammed the fist into the wall. Nothing important." For a few seconds Alice was quiet. It almost looked as if she was having an inner battle with herself. She finally sighed and looked Jughead right in the eyes.
"Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." Jughead stared at her with his mouth agape as she walked past him and into the kitchen. She pointed at one of the chairs. "Sit." She demanded and Jughead, still surprised, did what he was told. She walked further into the trailer and Jughead found himself even more surprised when she returned with a towel.
How did she know where to find the towels?
She poured some cold water on the towel and handed it to Jughead. He took it and placed it on his bleeding knuckles.
"What was the fight about?" Alice said as she sat down beside Jughead.
"She wants to come here after...well...everything." Jughead started and Alice looked right at him. It was as if she actually listened to him. "And I want her to come. I do. But I can't let her live her while dad is still drinking. He is so unpredictable when he's drunk and I don't want to risk her getting hurt."
"I get that." Alice said and Jughead looked at the floor.
"And with Leonard out of the picture...I think she is safer there than here. I mean even if dad is sober...what happens if I get killed because of some Serpent shit? And my mom...I don't even know where to start with her." Jughead's eyes got misty and Alice bit her lip.
"Jughead, if you want to she can stay at our place." Jughead looked up at her. "You can too." She finally said and Jughead stared at her.
"You hate me." He mumbled.
"I don't...hate...you. I just don't like that you're a Serpent. And that you're...well..." Jughead waited for her to tell him but she just shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Either way, if you want to live with your sister at ours then that is fine. Just don't tell your mom." Jughead raised his brow. "She hates my guts."
"Why?" Jughead asked.
"There is so much you kids don't know," Alice mumbled. "I can make sure to have a room ready for your sister by Saturday. I assume you and Betty will be sleeping in her room." Jughead smirked.
"Yes, ma'am." He teasingly said.
"Don't call me 'ma'am'" Alice mumbled.
"I won't ma'am." Alice rolled her eyes and looked at her clock.
"It's late. I should get going."
As Jughead closed the door he started to laugh. How did he get himself into such a fucked up situation? And why did Alice of all people want to help him?