"I'm sorry Betty. You're going to have to choose," Archie says firmly, looking from Jughead, where he's seated at the steps leading up to her house, his head in his hands, out of earshot of their conversation, and back to Betty, who scoffs.
She huffs a laugh, "you don't get it, do you?" She asks incredulously. "You really don't?"
"What do you mean?" Archie rolls his eyes.
Betty walks toward him a step, "you stand here and ask me to choose, but you don't get it," she starts. "It's him, Archie. It's always him" Archie frowns.
"It's never been you, it's never going to be you." Betty chuckles tearfully.
"Betty, you love me! You said it!" Archie exclaims. "No. I thought I loved you," Betty opens. "I love Jughead. I'm in love with Jughead."
"That's only what you think." Archie says. "He won't be able to give you what I can. He lives in a trailer, Betty."
Betty scoffs at his attitude. "You're supposed to be his best friend. In these past few days, Jughead Jones has lost everything, and you're supposed to be his best friend and help him. And instead you stand here and try to steal his fucking girlfriend." Betty wipes her eyes. "How fucking thick are you, Archie, to believe I would ever choose you over Jughead. After everything him and I have been through, you really think I would stand here and pick you over the love of my life."
She's about to turn around and walk away when she stops, "you didn't loose only one, but two best friends tonight. And you probably lost your loving, loyal girlfriend who's waiting for you at home, too, because you're stupid to believe I won't tell her about this." Betty turns and walk away.
When Betty arrives at the steps, Jughead looks up at her with tears in his eyes.
"I get it, Betty, I do. You can go be with Archie."
"Not you too," Betty mumbles. "How fucking dumb are the both of you to believe I would choose him over you. I love you, Jug. Don't you see that? Don't you get it?" Her voice breaks.
"Because if you don't, if you think as little of me as you apparently do, then I think maybe I'll have to choose neither of you." She says bitterly, as they both cry softly.
"No! Betty please no," Jughead cries, tears streaming down his cheeks at this point, hands reaching to cup her face in his gentle hands. Her hands wrap around his wrists.
"I'm so sorry, Juggie, I think we need a break from each other for a little while." Betty sobs, reaching to hug him tightly as they cry into each other.
"No, no, no, no, no, what did I do." Jughead mutters as his hands wrap around her waist, hugging her tighter than ever before. "I love you so much, Betty. I'll wait for you. I'll wait."
"Wait for what, Jug?" She cries softly, tears wetting his neck and the inner lining of his Sherpa jacket.
"I'll wait until you're ready to be with me again, Betty. You're it for me. I- I can't be with anyone else, I won't ever." Jughead speaks, his voice breaking as it feels like his heart is being pulled out of his chest, stepped on and stabbed forty times with a dinner fork.
"I love you," he mutters as he leans down to kiss her one more time. Before he unwraps himself from her and turns away.
"I'll wait!" He yells and she crumbles on the steps leading to her house sobbing so hard she can barely breathe, hugging her own knees.
At that point, Alice, who has been watching from the kitchen window, comes out.
"Oh Betty, what just happened?" She asks as she hugs her broken daughter, as she cries into her mother like she did when she was younger.
"It hurts, mom. It hurts so badly, I can't breathe," she sobs.
"Betty, baby, you need to tell me what happened. You need to calm down. Come on, let's head inside where it's warm and I'll get you some hot chocolate and some blankets." Alice mutters, taking her crying daughter with her into her house.
Later, Betty is sat on her couch, staring blankly into the flames of the fireplace as tears continue to stream down her cheeks. The sobbing has subdued, but the tears haven't and they continue their journey from her eyes and down her face.
"Here, sweetheart." Alice says as she gives her daughter a cup of steaming cocoa.
"Ready to tell me what went down out there?" She asks softly, tucking a piece of Betty's hair behind her ear.
Betty nods weakly. "Archie said I had to choose." She starts, swallowing thickly at the memories. "And I, of course, chose Jughead. Because I love him." Alice nodded.
"And I made Archie leave, because he made Jughead hurt tonight, he made me hurt, and he made Veronica hurt, and I just couldn't even look at him." Alice sighs, that Andrews boy, she thinks.
"And I went to Jughead, who was sitting at the steps, and he- he.." Betty begins to cry again as she thinks of his face.
She collects herself the best she can, and begins again. "He told me that it was okay, and that I could go be with Archie." Betty lets out a sob, and shakes her head, "but I don't want to be with Archie, and I though he would realize that. I though he would know and have faith in my love for him." Betty wipes angrily at her tears, that just can't seem to stop flowing.
"So I told him that if they both thought so little of me, that they thought I would choose Archie over Jughead then I would rather be with neither of them."
"And his face, mom, his fa-ce" she sobs, and Alice breaks at that, as she can imagine. "He just- he just broke, like I did, and we cried and he kept telling me he loved me." Alice wipes a few tears from her daughters cheeks as she holds her cradled to herself.
"And he said he would wait for me. That I was it for him and that he couldn't ever be with anyone else." Betty keeps sobbing, words getting caught in her throat as she sniffles.
"And then he kissed me, as if he'd never get to kiss me again, and as he walked away he yelled again that he would wait, and I just broke down."
"Oh, honey I'm so sorry." Alice mutters as she rests her head on top of her daughters. "It'll be okay, baby, it will. I promise," she whispers as she hugs her close and prays for Jughead to come back and beg for forgiveness, because she knew, even she knew, that those two couldn't be without each other at this point. Not after everything.
_________
A couple days passed, and Betty stayed in bed all weekend, and Alice told her she could skip school on Monday.
Alice had called F.P. after Betty went to bed the night it happened, and he had told her that Jughead had cried himself to sleep.
Alice was in pain watching her daughter be in pain.
That's her motive for showing up at the Jones' doorstep, midday on Monday.
She knocked politely, and then she waited.
She heard shuffling around the trailer, and it took two minutes before Jughead opened the door. He looked utter shit.
His eyes were bloodshot red, much like Betty's, his hair was messy and missing it's beanie, he looked like he hadn't eaten in days, and the bags under his eyes were so prominent he looked almost like a dead body.
"Jughead," Alice said, and he sipped his eyes, "Alice?" He croaked. He hadn't used his voice for talking in a few days so he cleared his throat before continuing.
"What- what are you doing here?" He asked, as he stepped back into the trailer, letting her follow before closing the door behind her.
"Betty is broken, Jughead." She said, and his face fell at the mention of her name.
"Something we have in common," he muttered, heading to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. "You want anything?" He added, looking at her as she just shook her head, "no thank you."
"You need to go to my house and fix things with Betty, right now." Alice stated as she watched the love of her daughter's life take a sip of water and raise his eyebrows.
"Is she okay?" He asks worriedly, already heading to put his shoes on.
"She's not okay, Jughead, she's been in her room all weekend, she hasn't let me in there. She hasn't eaten, or drank, as I've seen. All she does is cry."
"Sounds familiar," he says, as he opens the door for her, always the gentleman.
"I'll talk to her, of course I will, but I'm not sure it'll help. She is the one who broke up with me, after all, I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to see me."
Alice shrugs, "I'm pretty sure she wants to see you," she says as she starts the engine of her car and they speed of toward Elm street.
_________
When Jughead arrives at Betty's house, it's awfully quiet. Whenever he's been around here she's always been laughing or giggling at something, and opening the door and not hearing her familiar sound sits wrong with his and he shudders a bit.
He heads straight for the stairs, and up to Betty's room.
He knocks softly on her door, before opening it after.
She's in bed, looking tired as ever, and asleep.
He's about to turn around and let her sleep, when Alice comes up behind him. "I think she'd like to wake up with you." She says with a tiny smile, before she walk away again.
Jughead walks into the room where they've shared so many memories, like first kisses and.. other first things.
He walks around a bit, taking in the pictures she has in there. Of her and Kevin, her and Veronica. The one she had with Archie seems to have been thrown to the floor, and smashed, and Jughead picks it up gently, and puts it away face down.
Most of the pictures of her room are of them together. As little kids, as awkward tweens, and finally as dating teenagers, looking at each other with dreamy eyes and smiles playing their lips.
He runs his fingers lightly over a Polaroid taped to the mirror, of them in her bed, snuggling. He'd taken it from behind her, where he'd been spooning her, and over her shoulder to bring her face into frame. She's asleep and he's smiling, beanie-less. She was ethereal.
A few of the other pictures on her vanity mirror are also of them. One from prom and another from homecoming. A selfie they'd taken on their one year anniversary. A picture from their first date, in a booth at pops. From her birthday, a week before school started after summer, where she's wearing a pretty sundress and she's sun-kissed, and he's got a nice tan because he gets them effortlessly, much to Betty's dismay as she has to work really hard for them. They're kissing, at Sweetwater dock. Feet dangling off the side and into the water. His hand is on her neck and hers is on his chest. Kevin had taken it, and he'd been so proud of himself that day when Betty asked if he could send it to her to hang up.
He looks over at her again. Even after crying she's ethereal. He sighs softly, and lays next to her in bed. At first he's insecure and doesn't touch her, but, as if she can sense his presence nest to her, she rolls into him and cuddles close. "Juggie" she whispers, and he smiles for the first time since, ghosting a hand over her hair and down her back. "Yeah baby, it's me, I'm here now." He says and she hugs him tighter and opens her eyes.
"You're really here?" She asks, "I'm not dreaming?"
"No, lovely, you're not dreaming. I'm here."
"I'm so sorry, Jug, I love you and I'm so sorry" she says rapidly, trying to sit up but he just pulls her further down the bed and underneath the covers. He tucks them in under her chin, and smiles softly at her.
"It's okay," he says gently, running a finger down her cheek. "I love you."
She cries softly at that, burrowing herself into his chest further and whispers, "I know juggie, I know that"
And he kisses her. He kisses her so hard and so soft at the same time. Like he's been starved, which he has been. His hands cup her cheeks to dry her tears with his thumbs, and he pulls back to rub his nose against hers.
"Let's never break up again, okay, my love?" He mutters, closing his eyes and holding her so tightly.
"Never ever again." she agrees, and kisses his nose before hugging him as close as possible.