"I'm sorry I was such a dick"
"Well juggie, it's not everyday you get to confront the girl who's been hurting you for this long" Betty sighed as they sat on the porch.
"You've never hurt me Betty, but it was painful to see you so upset over him" Jughead nodded towards the house next door.
"You know, I always had this impression, that everyone wants me to be perfect and have the perfect life and everything goes along with it, and guess what, nobody cares" Betty laughed, genuine laughter because it was laughable how naive she had been for all this time.
"So I have an idea?" Jughead said tentatively.
"Go on..."
"Do you have any idea where we go from here?" Jughead asked.
"Not a clue" Betty replied honestly.
"So write me a letter, and tell my everything you felt in the moment you found out, and I'll do the same, you don't ever even have to open it, and I might never open mine, but writing is such a therapeutic way to clear your mind, and it might put ours at rest, you know at least for a while" Jughead tilted his head, half a smirk playing on his lips.
"And you won't laugh at me?" Betty reasoned.
"Why would I laugh at you?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"Well every time I try to get emotional with Archie he tells me I'm being stupid" Betty trailed off.
"Your not stupid Betty" Jughead frowned.
"I know, so are you gonna get out of my neighbour hood so I can break up with my boyfriend?" Betty laughed nudging Jugheads arm playfully with her elbow.
"Good luck with that" Jughead laughed.
"What about your space?" Betty asked standing in front of him.
"I just can't leave you alone" he smirked.
And with those words, something resonated in Betty and a blush creeped onto her cheeks, and choking back a smile she looked to the ground awkwardly nodding.
"I'll see you soon Jughead" she smirked, biting her lip and prying her eyes away from the beanie wearing boy in the leather jacket strolling down her driveway, stealing a glance at her as he disappeared around the corner.
"You and Jughead getting close again I see?" Betty mom stood in the porch door way, leaning on the door frame, her arms crossed with a cup of hot tea in one hand.
"He said he can't leave me alone" Betty said mindlessly.
"He has never been able to" Mrs Cooper laughed.
"Anyway mom, besides the point, what's for dinner?" Betty smiled as her and her mother walked back in to the house.
"So what's the occasion, Mrs Cooper?" Archie asked as he folded his napkin in his lap and began to eat what food was on his plate, which Betty had ensured her mother didn't spit in.
"Oh no occasion, I just thought we could have dinner, we haven't done that in a while" Betty vaguely smiled at him.
"Because He never shows up" Betty's mother mumbled and Betty shot her mother a violent, yet slightly amused look. And they ate in silence, Betty avoiding the inevitability of breaking up with Archie, and wondering how hard she had to run at the wall to run through it and leave a Betty shaped hole as you would see in the cartoons. And she got restless looking at the clock, eyeing every exit, watching her mother stare him down, watching her mother raise her eyebrows at her every time Archie spoke. And she wasn't interested in anything he had to say, neither was Betty, and it mostly consisted of small talk, and the atmosphere was colder than Pops in the middle of winter, and it made Betty somewhat smug that Archie was uncomfortable, given the dramatic irony of it all, it made her smile, two out of the three people in the room knew what was going to happen, yet the one who it concerned the most was oblivious, and Betty put it all simply down to karma.
"Finished?" Mrs Cooper said standing up and taking the plate from Archie before he could even finish what was in his mouth. He nodded slowly, and watched as the plates were cleared.
"I'm so glad you invited me over Betty, I really wanna talk, and sort this distance out" Archie smiled, that all American smile, and it repulsed her how hard he was trying to turn on the charm, and it was too little too late. It sickened her that he never tried this before, and it disgusted her that he hadn't even bothered to mask the smell of cigarettes, or even change his pants.
"I wanted to talk as we'll Arch, but I think we should put more distance in between us" Betty said quietly, busying herself with the forks left on the table.
"What do you mean? Because I missed prom?" Archie said confused.
"Except you didn't did you? You were there all over Josie" Betty furrowed her eyebrows, failing to see his logic behind his confusion.
"And you were there with Jughead!" Archie slumped in his chair like an incoherent child.
"Only because you were two hours late for picking me up!" Betty sighed.
"Babe- come on your not going to let that little weirdo get between us are you?" Archie slammed his drink down.
"He already is isn't he? What did he tell you? The "I've always loved you" bullshit, come on Betty, even your smart enough to not fall for that! You know who he is, the gang leader, the serpents, he's using you!" Archie spat.
"Like the way your using me? And have been using me for years? Here's the thing Archie, you have been using me, and I've had no fun what so ever, so if Jughead is using me, let me tell you, it's the most fun I've had in years" Betty smirked teasingly, batting her eye lids as her mother walked back into the room.
"Dessert?" Alice smirked at Archie.
"None for him, he was just leaving anyway" Betty said standing up and leaving the table. "He knows his own way out."
She stuck out like a sore thumb, and she was lucky it was Toni Topaz as her first encounter, anyone else she would of been eaten alive.
"My friend works here? I was wondering if i can speak him please?" Betty shouted into Toni's ear over the bar, the music was ear numbing. She noticed Toni smelt like apples and smoke, and her hair was pink, her ears were full of jewellery and she had an aura around her that was just inviting and friendly.
"What?" Toni furrowed her eyebrows at Betty pulling her by her arm and around the side of the bar. Betty had never been on this side of the bar, and she noticed knives, chips, and other various things underneath it.
"My friend works here, and he wasn't at home so I figured he was here?" Betty shouted into Toni's ear.
"Who's your friend?" Toni shouted serving drinks whilst taking money, and without even looking she knew what exact change to distribute.
"Jughead Jones? Is he around?" Betty asked trailing behind her as she held a serving plate full of scotch and liquor high over her head through a crowd of people.
"What do you want with Jughead?" Toni asked guiding her through the crowd with her hand on the small of her back, pushing her towards the open gateway of the bar.
"I need to talk to him" Betty said again now frustrated.
"Look the boss is up to his ears in restraining orders, not to mention that ginger northsider running around crying about his girlfriend and wrecking the place" Toni rolled her eyes.
"This is all my fault! I told Archie to leave Jughead out of this" Betty said more to herself than to any one else.
"Shit, are you betty?" Toni asked and Betty nodded slowly.
"Your not supposed to be here! Jughead will kill me if he finds out" Toni panicked pushing Betty back into the crowd.
"Toni, there you are, I've been looking everywhere for you, I need you to testify that Sweetpea stabbed Fangs under the influence of alcohol and that they are best friends, then he's looking at 2 months tops" Jughead said shoving a paper into Toni's hand.
"Betty?" Jugheads eyes widened.
"Jughead" Betty smiled.
"Toni" Jughead frowned.
"My fault entirely juggie, she's got nothing to do with it she just tried to push me out, but now that your here I need to talk to you" Betty grinned taking his hand and leading him out of the bar.
"Betty Cooper, What have I told you about coming here!" Jughead scowled.
"Shut up Jughead, I have to tell you something" Betty giggled.
"What's that" he smiled leaning against the wall in the dark alleyway.
"I broke up with Archie" Betty smiled.
"And all is set right in the world" Jughead teased.
"And he said you are using me" Betty frowned.
"What exactly for?" Jughead laughed.
"What he was using me for.." Betty trailed off.
"Sex?" Jughead smirked.
And Betty nodded, with a blush looking st the ground that was slowly going to swallow her up if her face didn't return to the right colour.
"Betty I am not using you for sex oh my god!" Jughead said suddenly walking forward and touching her shoulder.
"You're not?" Betty said stumbling back against the wall, and he caught her, his arm was firmly around her waist.
"No" he smiled in the moon light and she took a deep breath, mustered up all of her courage and simply said:
"But what if I want you to?" Breathlessly.
"This isn't going to be easy, you know, being with me" he said tilting his head and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I don't want it to be" she smiled.
He leaned forward and kissed her, his arm now resting in the wall behind them and she gasped as his tongue slipped into her mouth. She had never been kissed the way he kissed her, hungrily, like he wanted her, and she revelled in it. The taste of his mouth ignited in her bones and she gasped as his hand slid up her skirt and grabbed her thigh.
"Not here" He said breathlessly after a while as he pulled her leg up around him, and she couldn't fathom anything he was saying, all she wanted was the taste of his lips on hers, and smiled into the kiss, his hands loosely resting around her neck and she lost himself in her.
"This might be a bad time boss, but I accidentally stabbed Sweetpea" a voice came from the back doors of the bar.
"What have I told you about throwing knives at eachother" Jughead sighed looking towards the door.
"Oh my gosh, Betty Cooper is that you!" Fangs squealed.
"Betty, this is Fangs, he's quite the fan of yours" Jughead said quietly as the pair awkwardly shook hands.
"I envy how flexible you are" Fangs gushed.
"Excuse me?" Betty spluttered.
"Pep rallies" Fangs laughed.
"Oh Thankyou" Betty blushed.
"Wait for me at my place? I have to take sweet pea to the hospital" Jughead laughed handing Betty a key to his trailer out of his pocket.
"Sure" Betty nodded.
"Fangs, get her home safely" Jughead smacked his back.
"He's just in a bad mood because me and sweet pea keep stabbing eachother, I've heard a lot about you betty" Fangs laughed.
"You have?" Betty asked.
"Oh yes, Jughead is infatuated, and he always wants to keep you safe, why do you think I haven't already introduced myself silly" Fangs said suddenly linking arms with her.
"I'm flattered, but things are going to have to change, I'm having fun at this little bar of his" Betty laughed.
"It's the funnest!" Fangs smirked.
"So you and the boss man? You good friends?" Betty asked him.
"He wouldn't call us friends, but I would call us besties" Fangs laughed.
"How long have you knew Jug then?" Betty asked him, it was alien to her, she never knew Jughead had friends, and what she did picture his friends to be like she always envisioned big burly men with scars and carried knives. Certainly not delightful yet muscly gay guys with a slight edge to them, or a pink haired five foot nothing waitress and she definitely, never in a million years would ever even consider the possibility that Jughead had a friend named Sweetpea.
"About four years now, about as long as it took for you to get over that prick Archie, he speaks very highly of you, and well very lowly of Archie let's put it that way" Fangs giggled along to himself, carelessly sashaying through the streets of the southside, whilst Betty was looking over her shoulder every five minutes.
Not than she though there was an iota of a chance she was being followed, the southside just made her paranoid, it was built on a foundation of superstitions and old wives tales that mothers told their mischievous children as a way of scaring them straight. And it was always stories of bad men, manipulative women, robberies, fights, and that's how it got it's reputation of being "the wrong side of the tracks". And Betty remembered her mother's threats as a child, "go to sleep Elizabeth or I will send you to the southside".
After 10 more minutes of mindless conversation Betty was at a familiar place and she felt safe enough to let Fangs go and she wished him luck as he had to "suffer the rath of a raging Sweetpea" which sent her into a fit of giggles. And all this laughter, and joking around distracted her from the fact she was just sucking face with her best friend since she was four. And now she was sat in his house, at his kitchen table precisely wondering what the hell was going to happen when he walked through those doors, and what the hell is going to happen tomorrow, and why the hell her mother hadn't bothered to call yet wondering where she is.
She pottered around for a while, nosing at everything in the living area, and when she had saw all the childhood pictures and empty pizza boxes she could see she wondered into his room, which was the same as always, jeans on the floor, watch on the desk, papers strewn everywhere, his laptop in its rightful place. His whole life was on that laptop, and she stared at it. Not wanting to intrude, but she burning with curiosity to wonder what exactly was in this memoir of his that he had been righting all these years.
She opened the laptop and there on the screen was his latest document he had been writing. And it was her letter. She felt rude invading his privacy, but after seeing it was addressed to her, she couldn't help but give in to her curiosity.
My dearest Betty,
If there is one thing in this life that I am absolutely sure of it is writing, and I'm struggling to string a sentence together, and it baffles me that I can't put into words what I need to say. The thing is, I don't know what I need to say, but I know what I want to say, what I've always wanted to say, which is simply: I want you. I wish I gave you the flowers when I had the chance, and even to see you smile shyly, I would take it, because knowing I caused a fraction of your happiness was all I have ever wanted. Maybe I could of saved you a lot of heart ache by just saying those three little words, what ever they were. "I want you" "I need you" "I love you". And now it's out in the open, and the silent space between our friendship has evolved into something more than a friendship, but not quite a relationship, I'll take that as well. It's selfish to spring this upon you, don't I know it, but, since the day I met you, Betty Cooper, you have done nothing but bring me happiness, warmth and light in this dark town that we live in. You are hope Betty, my hope. For a happier future, because that's what I see when you look at me. One day, we will get out of this town, into the city, and drink coffee in bread scented cafes, dance in the divine clubs of New York, see all the world has to offer, if you would just take my heart, and my hand, say goodbye to Riverdale, and never look back. I guess that's what I've always wanted, for me, for us.
Jughead came in that night, unbelievably tired, and his head throbbed from listening to sweet pea and Fangs bicker amongst themselves about who hurt who first. Something was different about his home. There was no trash on the kitchen table, and his clothes were folded neatly on the chair. The dishes were cleaned and stacked on the dish drainer, and it had a faint trace of the vanilla perfume that signified Betty's presence in the trailer.
And there she was asleep in his bed, still wearing her clothes and her shoes were neatly tucked under the bed.
"Hey" she said sleepily, fighting to open her eyes.
"Hey" he smiled back at her tilting his head and pushing the hair out of her face.
Nothing more was said, she fell back into her sleep and he got undressed and lay beside her, watching her for a while, he just lay staring at her in the dark, waiting to wake up. Until she rolled over and placed her hand on his chest, resting her head on him, and it was all too real.