Thank you @sarahbutbetter for this request!
Betty's POV:
Sunlight streams in through my window, and shines right on my face. I groan and roll over, to throw my arm over his torso. I snuggle my face deeper into his chest, and he chuckles and drops a soft kiss on the crown of my head. His right hand fiddles with the ends of my hair, as his left pulls me tighter against his body. I lean up and kiss his cheek, and he leans down to kiss my lips, but my phone ringing breaks us apart. I reach over onto my nightstand, and grab my phone bringing it up to my ear.
"Hello?" I say.
"Hey B! Do you wanna come to Pop's with me, Archie, and Jughead today? I haven't asked Jug yet, but I know he'll say yes. That boy can never say no to Pop's." She giggles.
"Yeah sure. I'll ask Jug for you. See you in 10." I hang up before she can say anything else, and return to my spot on his chest.
"Who was that?" He asks in his cute, raspy morning voice.
"Veronica. She asked if we want to go to Pop's today."
"Well we better get up and get dressed." He says sitting up. I whine and try pulling him back down with me, but he just laughs and starts to pull on his clothes. I sigh and get up from the bed and going over to my closet. I grab a gray skirt, pink blouse, and white Converse. I tuck the blouse into the skirt, and tie my hair up into my signature ponytail. Jug's arms come and wrap around my middle from behind as I stand in front of the mirror. He looks cute wearing his black ripped jeans, S-shirt, and serpent jacket along with his beanie. He kisses the side of my neck and I smile. He lays his head on my shoulder, and stares at me in the mirror.
"You look beautiful, baby." He compliments. I blush and turn in his arms. I wrap my arms around his neck, and his land on my hips. I stand on my tiptoes and give him a soft, loving kiss which he happily returns. We pull away and I rest my head on his chest for a minute, before righting myself and dragging him out of the bathroom. I lace our fingers together, and walk down the stairs, and out the door. The whole way to Pop's we talk about our next article for the Blue and Gold, and what we should write it on. When Pop's comes into view he drops my hand and lets it swing by his side. Jughead and I are keeping our relationship on the down low for a little bit. We just started dating 2 weeks ago, and aren't sure how our friends and everyone else will react to us being together. We plan on telling Archie and Veronica soon, but not today, not yet. He opens the door to Pop's and holds it open for me as I walk through. The bell jingles above our heads, and alerts everyone in the diner of our presence. I scan the diner looking for our friends, when my eyes land on them sitting in a booth in the far corner. They are sitting across from each other, and as we approach they each scoot over to make room for us.
"Hey guys!" I say, and sit down next to Veronica. She looks disappointed for a second, but recovers and greets me with a hug. Archie and Jughead do the stupid, douche nod that guys do. Pop Tate comes over, and we all order our usuals.
"Okay guys, so prom is coming up, do any of you have dates yet?" Veronica asks looking at all of us. I glance at Jug and he smirks at me. I blush and shake my head.
"No not yet. What about you, V?" I ask her.
"No, but I have my eye on someone." She peeks over at Jughead from under her lashes, but blushes and looks away quickly. I shrug it off and turn to Archie who is staring at me, his eyes looking dazed.
"Arch, any lucky ladies yet?"
"Oh uh no, but I have in mind who I'm gonna ask." He winks at me, and I just look over to Jughead who looks just as confused as I am. Pop walks over with our food which helps to break some of the tension. We all eat our food and talk about anything that comes into our heads. I swirl a french fry in ketchup, and pop it into my mouth, as salt overloads my senses. I feel a warm hand slip onto my knee. My head shoots up and Jug is staring at me with a smile on his face. I smile back and lean down to rest my hand on his, while staring into his blue eyes. He looks at me lovingly, and rubs my knee with the pad of his thumb. I don't look away until Veronica's voice cuts into my brain, breaking the trance I'm in.
"So, Jug, I was wondering if you could come over today. I need help with studying for the science test on Monday, and I know that you have an A in that class. Will you help me?" She asks, batting her eyelashes at him. I glance over at Jughead, and see him reluctantly nod his head. Veronica claps her hands, and squeals.
"Thank you so much Juggie!" I feel a pang of jealousy hit me in the heart. That's my nickname for him. Only I call him that. Jug must've felt my anxiety because he squeezes my thigh with his hand. For the rest of the time that we are there, I notice all the little touches and looks that Veronica gives Jughead. He doesn't return any of it, and even looks uncomfortable when she reaches over and lays her hand on top of his. An uneasy feeling sits in the bottom of my stomach, and I can't seem to focus on any of the conversation that happens for the rest of the time we are there.
On our way out of Pop's, Veronica grabs Jug's hand and pulls him away from Archie and I while yelling a goodbye over her shoulder. Jughead throws me an apologetic look, and I just smile sadly while turning away from them.
"Do you want to walk home with me?" Archie asks. I thought I heard a little bit of nervousness in his voice, but shook it off and nodded my head.
"Yeah, I'd love that." I smile at him and he smiles back while leading me away from Pop's and in the direction of our houses. His hands are stuffed into the pockets of his jeans, and the silence that hangs between us is awkward. The light spring breeze makes goosebumps erupt on my skin, and I rub my arms with my hands in an attempt to warm my body up. Archie looks over at me, and takes his jacket off and drapes it over my shoulders.
"Thanks." I say and he smiles in response.
I pull the fabric tighter against me to warm up, and the thick material helps to block the wind. For the rest of the walk, neither of us say anything, but Archie sighs multiple times. I wait for him to bring up what's bothering him but he doesn't offer anything up, so I don't ask.
When we arrive in front of our houses, I take his jacket off and he takes it from my outstretched hand. He opens his mouth and then closes it again, and walks away into his house. I stare after him in confusion, but turn around and walk inside my own house. I can hear my mom in the kitchen preparing a meal of some sort- salad I'm guessing. I run up the stairs into my room, so I don't have to listen to her drone on and on about my life decisions. I open my bedroom door, and flop down onto my bed with a sigh. I feel the gaze of someone burning into the top of my head, and I lift my body up from the bed. Archie is standing in the window looking at me, but quickly turns away when he sees that he's been caught. I watch as he snaps his blinds shut, and I see his shadow cross over to where his bed is sat. My phone beeps from the side table by my bed indicating that I got a notification, and as I reach over for it I'm hoping that it's Jughead wanting to hang out or just to talk. My hope is killed when I see that it's just a notification from instgram, that says Cheryl posted something to her feed. Out of pure boredom, I slide open the notification, and my heart stops when I see what she posted.
It's a picture. But no just any picture, no. A picture of Veronica and Jughead sitting on her floor in her bedroom at the Pembrooke- kissing. Veronica has her hands wrapped around his neck with her lips on his. I can tell that someone had taken the photo from outside Veronica's window, and neither Jughead or Veronica saw them take it. My breath catches and tears start to well up in the corners of my eye as I read the caption: "Looks like Lodge got a little taste of a badboy ;)" I put my hand over my mouth to stifle my sobs, and through the blur of my tears I see that Jughead has texted me.
Juggie: I really need to talk to you.
Betts: I'll be there in 5
I don't let on that I know what he's talking about, so I just grab my jacket and slip my arms through the holes. I slide open my window and climb down the ladder, since I'm not in the mood to deal with my mom right now. I stuff my hands into the pockets of my jacket, and make my way down the street toward the Jones' trailer.
I arrive there, and walk up the rickety stairs to the door. I bring my hand up, but before I can knock the door flies open and a flustered looking Jughead is standing there. He's beanie-less and his hair is sticking up in some places which implies that he's been running his hands through it. He takes in my tear stained face, and I see his expression soften and become nervous. I don't say anything as I push past him and into the living room that I've found comfort on numerous occasions- one of those times is definitely not now. He closes the door, but makes no attempt to close to me and I silently thank him for that. Neither of us say a word for little bit, and I keep my eyes trained on the carpet underneath my shoes.
"I'm assuming you know what happened. Damn you Cheryl Blossom." He says into the quiet. I only nod and fidget with my fingers. He reaches out to grab my hand, but at the last minute decides against it and lets it fall back to his side. He takes a deep breath and then tugs at his hair with his hands.
"Betty I'm sorry that you had to find out that way. I was gonna tell you as soon as I could, but Cheryl beat me to it. I'm sorry I-"
"Do you like her?" I cut him off. Tears build on my bottom lashes and start spilling over onto my cheeks, making new tear tracks. He looks up at me with wide eyes, and rapidly shakes his head from side to side.
"No, god no. Betty I don't like her like that. Sure she's a good friend, but I only have eyes for you. I had no clue she even felt that way about me, I mean she had been acting weird at Pop's but I just brushed it off as nothing. Then we were at her house she kept touching my arm and my leg, but I didn't enjoy it. While I was helping her, she just leaned over and kissed me. As soon as I realized what was happening I pushed her off of me, and told her that I didn't like her like that, and then I left." I let out a breath that I hadn't known I was holding in. Jughead slowly steps closer to me and cups my face in his rough hands, and wipes the tears away with the pad of his thumb.
"I love you, and only you okay?" He reassures. I nod and he places a soft kiss to my forehead. I lean my head on his chest as he wraps his arms tighter around me and pulls me even closer against him. He rests his chin on the crown of my head, and my body relaxes. I push back a little and look up at his handsome face standing over me.
"I think it's time we tell people about us." I say, and without any hesitation he nods.
"That sounds like a great idea."
A few days later, as I sit on my bed and type up the latest Blue and Gold article on my laptop, Archie texts the groupchat and asks if we want to hang out Pop's in a little bit. I agree and so do V and Jug. I save the article and carefully close the top of my laptop, while pulling on a light jacket to protect my small body from the cool wind. I walk downstairs and out the front door, locking it behind me- it's nice when your mom is away on a journalism retreat and you can come and go as you please without having to listen to her bitch about the people you choose to hang out with. The Pop's sign comes into view and through the windows I can see that everyone is already sat at a booth waiting for me to arrive. The bell jingles over my head as I walk through the doorway, and make my way to the booth filled with my friends. They all greet me, and I slide in next to Jug who is sat on the opposite side of Veronica and Archie against the window. I notice that Veronica avoids looking anywhere near Jug and he seems to be doing the same- but for totally different reasons. Jughead places his hand on my thigh, and I smile over at him as he flashes me that adorable 'Jughead Jones' grin that always manages to make me weak in the knees. Pop comes over and takes our orders before going back to the kitchen to prepare our meals. An awkward silence hangs above all of us, and nobody makes a move to say anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Archie staring at me with big eyes, and I look up at him raising an eyebrow.
"Archie is there something you want to say?" I ask him. He coughs nervously and fidgets in his seat, before clearing his throat and looking at me with a shy smile on his face.
"Betty, I need to tell you that I have feelings for you. I have for a while now, but I don't know if you like me back or not, so I just had to put that out there. I really like you, maybe even love you." He whispers the last part and his cheeks flush. I feel Jughead tense beside me and I lace our fingers together and squeeze his hand in reassurance. I rub the back of my neck awkwardly, and glance around at everyone in the booth. Jughead looks pissed, but also scared and nervous at the same time, while Veronica keeps glancing between me and Archie seeing how this is going to play out.
"It'd be nice if you said something." Said Archie hopefully.
"Well- uh Arch listen I think it's really sweet that you said all that but," I pause for a second before lifting mine and Jughead's laced fingers up so they can see. "Jug and I are already dating." I blurt out. Both Veronica and Archie's mouths drop open and stare at our linked hands in the air for all to see. I look over at Jug and he has a smirk on his face that he was trying- but failing- to hide. It goes silent again until Veronica speaks up.
"Wait so when you said yesterday that you have a girlfriend, you really meant you had a girlfriend." She says to Jug who lightly blushes and nods his head. He leans over and places a chaste kiss to my cheek. Archie chokes at the display of affection and motions for Veronica to move out of the booth.
"I'm sorry but I can't be here right now. I can't handle this." He runs out of the diner when Veronica stands up and we all watch him leave in the direction of his house. I expect Veronica to do the same, but surprising both me and Jug she sits back down in her seat and folds her arms on the table. I slowly put our hands back down under the booth, where Jughead starts to rub the back of mine with his thumb. I look back at Veronica and she has a small smile on her face as she studies us.
"Ya know, I'm really happy that you guys are together. I'm not sure why I kissed you Jughead. I thought I liked you but I think I was just trying to force myself to be who everyone wants me to be, because in reality I don't like guys. I like girls. Cheryl Blossom to be exact. I was terrified of admitting that to myself, but after kissing you, Jughead, it only reinforced that I'm not attracted to guys. So for that I'm sorry, but then again not sorry because now I can finally be myself." She admits to us almost wistfully. Now it's mine and Jug's turn to be shocked. We stare at her with wide eyes and don't say anything but just stare at her, stunned. She shifts in her seat, and takes our silence as anger or disappointment. I let go of Jug's hand and plop down next to her on her side of the booth. I pull her into my arms, and wrap her up in a tight hug as tears fall from both of our eyes. I pull away and look into her eyes, and wipe her tears away while smiling happily.
"V! I'm so happy for you, and support you unconditionally. This doesn't change anything and now I love you even more. It's gonna be okay." I tell her and she just grins at me as we giggle. The boy across from us clears his throat and catches the attention of both of us.
"I'm happy for you , Ronnie. You deserve happiness no matter who that's with." Jughead smiles at her and she smiles back with glee shining in her dark brown eyes. I turn Veronica back to face me, and hug her quickly once more.
"I happen to know that Cheryl recently came out as a lesbian as well. Go get your girl, V." She squeals and skips out of the diner excitedly. I watch her leave and then go back and sit by Jug. He opens his arms and I lean back into his chest.
"That went better than I thought I guess." He says and I giggle. I lean up and give him a lingering kiss on his lips, as he kisses back eagerly. Wanting more, he chases my lips after we pull away but I laugh and turn back around so my back is against his chest. He rests his chin on my head and I snuggle further into him.
"I love you Jughead Jones." I whisper to him. Even though I can't see him I know he's smiling.
"And I love you, Betty Cooper."
Not proofread so let me know if there are any typos or errors:)