Chapter summary - Betty realizes her feelings for Jughead were not just a fleet of the moment thing.
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Betty woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking and she rubbed her eyes. She stayed there for a few minutes before she sat up, crossing her arms over her chest as she stood up out of the bed. She walked into the kitchen, Jughead standing at the stove making something.
He caught sight of her a moment later, flashing her a smile. "Good morning. I don't know if you want anything but, uh, I made eggs. If you don't want that I have cereal and if you don't want that then you can help yourself to anything else in the kitchen, I don't mind."
"Thank you." He nodded and she took the prepared plate of eggs. He handed her a fork and she walked over, sitting down carefully at the kitchen island. There were only two stools there and it made sense. If he lived alone, which she had figured he did, there was no need for more than two. Her eyes scanned around the apartment a second later, looking at everything.
It was bright with the wall of windows opened and the walls were white which made it brighter. He had a couch sitting against the wall in front of her, a TV on a stand across from it. There was also a small desk with a few papers and what she guessed was his laptop pushed up against the wall. He had a small coffee table in the center of the living room as well. The kitchen was small but it wasn't so small to the point it would make you claustrophobic seeing as it was quite open. He kept the place very clean besides the few scattered items that laid about. He had a flood of books sitting in the cubbies of his TV stand, almost overflowing out of them.
She finished eating her breakfast and it was the first time she realized Jughead had also been eating silently against the kitchen counter. She had gotten lost in her own world and had partially forgotten where she was.
With a small flush on her cheeks, she stood slowly, his eyes coming up. "I... I finished."
He nodded, jumping down off of the counter. "You can put it in the sink. I'll clean it now."
"I can do it-" He held up his hand as she cut herself off, passing him the plate when he held out his hand silently.
He washed the plates and forks in silence, Betty standing at the island, not knowing what to do. "I can take you home when I finish these and I change." She nodded and he finished, getting changed quickly. They walked out to his car and she waited patiently as he locked it. He had her put her address into his phone and he started the directions.
"I have a question." He glanced over at her as he got in, nodding. "So you'll go back out to protests?"
"Most likely. Why, you planning on seeing me there again?" She flushed slightly, biting the inside of her cheek. "That was a joke."
She chuckled a little, shaking her head. "My question was regarding that." He gave her a nod and she continued. "Let's say I did see you or someone else at a protest... am I allowed to come up to you?"
"Yeah, as long as you don't say our names." She nodded, biting her lip. "Why?"
She shook her head, giving him a small smile. "No reason. Just... if I get lost or something." He chuckled, nodding.
"You won't be able to tell Reggie and I apart, you know." He glanced over at her and she furrowed her brows. "We're the same height, we're in the same gear..."
"Oh, I didn't think about that." She looked down at her hands almost in defeat.
"Uh, but Reggie doesn't usually get spotted until teargas comes out." She furrowed her brows again, giving him a questioning look that was filled with laughter. He chuckled, looking back at the road. "He enjoys throwing it back at the cops - he's also a yeller. You'll usually find him and Sweet Pea belittling a cop or multiple. I stay back and usually help people. I try to explain to them what's going on and why it's happening. I protest, I help people who get tear gassed or shot with rubber bullets. I'm more of a "dressed-up" protester than I am a... fighter, I guess."
She nodded, turning a little to face him better. "So what does Toni do?"
"She usually does what I do. Um, if she comes in her gear - which isn't often - she does what I do but with a different group of people. We all tend to go our own ways and meet in the middle." He glanced at her at the redlight, giving her a smirk. "Does that answer your question?"
"Yes, but I have another one." He nodded, looking back to the road again. "Are you guys, like, related or something? You didn't say anything last night besides your sister and Sweet Pea so..."
He chuckled, shaking his head. "No, we're not related. We all... we all grew up together. Reggie wasn't always there, but he fit right in. So, we're kind of like family. Everyone we know and love is in Toledo and we're here, so that makes us family too, I guess."
"So, you're close?" He nodded and she gave him a smile. "My sister's visiting by the way. She doesn't live here, she lives in New York." He smirked and she bit her lip. "I just... I don't know why I said that." He chuckled, shaking his head.
"You're good."
~
"So you'll be out tonight?" Jughead's eyes ran over her face and he felt an odd connection between the two of them.
"Do you want me to be?" Betty bit her lip and looked down at her hands nervously. "I probably will be. All of us probably will. So if you find one of us, at some point you'll find all of us." She gave him a nod and a smile, opening her car door.
"Thank you for driving me."
"It was no problem." She nodded, getting out of the car. "Be safe."
"You too." She closed the car door, giving him a small smile. He waited until she was inside to leave, driving back to his apartment in silence. When he got there, Reggie, Sweet Pea, and Toni were inside.
"Why are you three here?" He dropped his keys on the kitchen island, sighing as he sat on the counter.
"One: you have our shit," Toni said jokingly. "And two: why not?" She gave him a smile, eating a grape. He rolled his eyes, dropping his head back against the cabinets. "Where's the blonde?"
"At home and her name's Betty."
Toni's eyes widened and she winced forcibly. "Leave you alone for a few hours and you fall in love."
"I did not fall in love. How am I supposed to react when a woman smells like me and sleeps in my bed?"
She wrinkled her nose before furrowing her brows. "How about normal?" He grabbed the nearest chip bag, throwing it at her. "Stay pissed, Jones."
~
"You're going out again? Betty, you're crazy." Polly huffed incredulously at her sister, shaking her head. "You're going to get arrested and what will you do then?"
"I'm not going to get arrested, Pol. I'm not stupid." Polly rolled her eyes and Betty zipped her backpack. "I'm just going out to find someone."
She furrowed her brows, turning to Betty. "Who?"
Betty sighed, biting her lip. "N-No one." Polly narrowed her eyes questioningly. "I can't say, okay?"
"I don't feel comfortable with you doing this," she said to her sister with soft eyes. "Betty, things are a mess out there and if you're meeting some dumb guy from online-"
"Polly, I'm not, I swear. I know who I'm looking for and I know where to find them." She grabbed her face mask off of the dining table, grabbing her phone. "I'll be back later. Love you."
"Love you too." With that, Betty left the apartment, walking out of the building. She walked towards the sound of the protests, arriving in no time. She started to blend in with the crowd, following along with what they were saying as she carefully ran her eyes all around her.
She looked closely at everyone who had on a vest. She looked for the small symbol in the center that theirs had and she almost squealed when she found one. She wasn't sure who it was but like Jughead had said: if you found one of us, you'll eventually find all of us.
Betty pushed out of the middle of the crowd, walking over to the man sheepishly. She couldn't hear his voice from where she stood but he was explaining something to people. She moved through the crowd, catching his chuckle. She felt suddenly giddy once she realized it was Jughead and she felt her heart race. She couldn't understand why she felt attracted to him. She didn't really know him, so she shouldn't feel this happy to find him.
"What's your name?" A woman beside her asked the question and Betty bit her lip, keeping quiet. He glanced over to them and shook his head lightly.
"I can't say that." She let out and upset "Oh," and Betty felt special. She felt like she was in on a secret - which she technically was. "I got-I got-" He cut himself off with a chuckle. "I got a bunch of names. I ended up going fucking viral on Sunday. Sorry, excuse my language. I got... so... there's a bunch of names floating around."
She watched intently as he continued to talk with the people, butterflies swarming in her stomach. It felt childish almost but she couldn't seem to care. For some reason she was crushing on this masked man she really barely knew.
~
"Be safe." He said the words to the people as they walked away, his head turning to Betty as she lingered slightly. "You either found me or you found someone else to help you find me." She giggled and the sound made him feel oddly happy.
"I found you all by myself - first try." He nodded and she fell into a careful step next to him.
"Impressive." He nudged her shoulder lightly, smirking as she bit her lip even if he knew she couldn't see him. "Did your sister come with you?"
She winced lightly, shaking her head. "No, she didn't want to go - she didn't even want me to go. But I told her I had to meet someone. I didn't say your name but... still. I kind of walked out on her which wasn't very nice but... I wanted to come back out." Jughead nodded, clearing his throat. "Uh, I don't have to hang around you if you don't want-"
"Hey, no, you're good. I don't mind at all. Actually, if it's not a hassle, could you maybe help me find Sweets? He'll be yelling at somebody and we're trying to get home early tonight." She nodded and he gave her a small smile, forgetting for a moment that she couldn't see him. "Thanks."
"Uh, what about Toni and Reggie?"
"They'll be at the car waiting like they should. They listen, Sweet Pea doesn't. And don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's passionate about this and he should be but we just can't risk losing someone right now so we have to kind of keep him in line. He enjoys pissing off the police a lot - because at this point, who doesn't - so we let him do his thing until they get grabby." She nodded along, holding her hands tightly in front of herself. "Do you want me to take you home later? Or I could go there before we go to my place."
"I mean, I can walk if I have to but, um, I thought that we could maybe hang out?" Her face was contorted into almost a wince and her eyes had embarrassment along with fear behind them. "I just thought that yesterday when we were talking in the laundry room it was super easy and it's hard for me to find people like that because I am not a talker at all so it made me happy, you know? I would also love to get to know Toni and Sweet Pea and Reggie because they seem like really great and really genuine people from the way you describe them. But, I mean, if you're not comfortable with me sticking around that's perfectly fine, too. I could always just go home and make dinner or something with Polly." He smiled to himself, finding her rambling cute. "And, let's say I do stay, I don't have to make dinner, I can make - and bake - a lot of different things so really it would be whatever you want-"
"Betty," she blinked up at him and he chuckled. "If you want to hang around and make something, that's fine. But, just don't think if you do you, like, get all this, you know?" He motioned to his body and he wondered for a split second if she knew he was talking about his gear and not him.
"Yeah, of course. I mean, no offense, but I'm not trying to be whatever you guys are. It seems like it'd be hot and sweaty and nasty, so no thanks." He chuckled at her small cringe, nodding. "Uh, I have a question." He nodded again and she sighed. "Earlier you said you went viral. What does that mean?"
"Ah, well," he chuckled, fixing the bottom of his mask. "Someone caught wind of a video of Reggie and it blew the hell up and people started commenting that they've seen multiples of us - which, as you know, is true. The four of us really just became this big thing over night. Reggie's little street name right now is Alpha. Sweets is Tank I believe. Toni's is Athena or something else and I currently do not have one."
"Do you want one?" There was a teasing lilt in her voice and eyes and he couldn't stop the grin that cracked his face.
"I'm not sure. It seems like it'd be weird, you know?" She nodded, giggling a little. "People have been trying to figure out who we are and god. It's honestly hilarious."
"See? No one would ever know you're a school teacher." He shrugged and she smiled up at him. They moved on from the conversation to cheering with the crowd, each of them scanning the area. After a few long minutes, Jughead heard Betty gasp and glanced down at her. "Look. Is that him? Sweet Pea?"
Jughead followed to where she was pointing and squinted lightly. "Fuck you! All you are are a bunch of pussies!" He nodded, straightening.
"That's definitely Sweets." They walked over to him and Jughead tapped his shoulder twice. This had him straightening and police glaring as they kept their stance. "Let's go,"
"Come on man, I just started getting under bulges skin here. Look at the little vein. You see it?" Sweet Pea chuckled as he fake posed with the cop and Jughead nodded, the cop's face turning bright red as the vein in his forehead bulged even more. "Dude, seriously, cut back on the carbs." The officer huffed and Sweet Pea and Jughead both snorted. "Don't shit your pants too hard."
"Okay, Sweets. We gotta go." They started to walk away and Sweet Pea lunged slightly at an officer, scoffing when he flinched. Betty stayed silent at Jughead's side, not sure if he even remembered she was there.
"Hey, you're Betty, right?" She glanced up at Sweet Pea, nodding. "Cool. It's an even balance now, Jones. We got me, you, Reggie and her, Cher, and Toni. It all works out."
"There's more of you?" She asked it in shock and they shrugged.
"We're not sure. Not in our group there's not. Cheryl is Toni's girlfriend. She's not a part of us or what we do but she knows who we are - like you." Betty nodded. "And, to be honest, Cheryl would never do this. She's said as much multiple times, I'm not stereotyping her."
"I didn't think you were." Jughead shrugged again and she sighed. They walked back in silence to their car, passing out water bottles Betty had brought along the way.
When they got there, Reggie and Toni were waiting, just like Jughead had said they would be. "Blondie?" Betty furrowed her brows at the nickname Toni gave her, Jughead huffing.
"Betty." He said sternly.
"Hey, blondie." She picked up Betty's hand and shook it, getting into the car. She gave Jughead a look and he just shook his head.
"Betty?" She nodded at Reggie's question and he nodded back. "Reggie - but I think you already know that." She chuckled, nodding. He held the car door open for her and she got in, gasping silently when she was squeezed next to Jughead.
He had stripped from almost all of his gear, sweat covering his head and almost drenching his hair. He wiped it with his t-shirt and she swallowed thickly at his newly exposed skin. When her eyes finally peeled away from his body and back to his face, she realized he was smirking.
Did he do it on purpose?
Or maybe he's smirking because she hadn't watched Sweet Pea or Reggie do the same thing. So, did he know?
Did he know about the odd attraction she felt?
Did he know that the thought of him made her feel giddy and warm like she had known him her whole life?
Was he aware of all of this?
She sat back in her seat with her cheeks basically on fire, keeping her eyes down on her hands and ignoring the conversation going on around her. She obviously couldn't hide her feelings, so she had to at least be able to hide her embarrassment - somewhat.
"So, blondie," Jughead rolled his eyes next to Betty as her head came up, meeting Toni's eyes in the rear view mirror. "Jughead said you're making dinner." She nodded, letting out a deep breath. "What're you making?"
"I-I'm not sure yet. I, uh, I haven't decided." Toni nodded, focusing on her driving again.
"I can get her to stop calling you blondie." Jughead whispered the words just so she could hear and her attention was back to him in a heartbeat.
Her eyes ran over his face and she swallowed thickly. His eyes are very pretty, she thought. And that's not a bad thing, guys can have pretty eyes. His eye lashes were quite long and it seemed fitting. He had small beauty marks covering his face. His lips were basically on hers with how cramped the car already was and it made her heart race like it had before when she had first found him.
"Betty," she blinked letting out a breath as he snapped her out of her trance. "I can get her to stop. Do you want me to?"
Betty shook her head then shrugged. "I don't mind, I know it's all a joke anyway. It's not hurting me or anything."
He nodded along, going back to sitting straight in his seat. "I'll get her to stop." Betty nodded, looking back down at her hands.
~
"I'm going to go smoke-"
"Can I come with you?" Jughead furrowed his brows and Betty's cheeks became red like they had in the car. She cursed herself silently in her head. "I... it's just... I'm still not-"
"You can come." He gave her a small smile and nod and she let out a careful sigh of relief. She followed him up to the rooftop, feeling safer with it just being them rather than everybody else. She rolled her eyes at her thoughts. "You don't want to be alone with them I suppose?"
She shrugged, sitting down in one of the chairs. "I'm not sure. I feel like I know you better than I know them, you know? I also have a feeling Toni doesn't like me very much."
"It's not that Toni doesn't like you, she likes testing people's limits. That's how she gets to know people." Betty furrowed her brows and Jughead chuckled as he took a drag from his cigarette. "She's different but we love her. Once Toni gets to know you, she'll like you, trust me."
"You don't even know me yet so how can you say that?" He shrugged, sitting down across from her.
"Just... a guess." She bit her lip as she fought a smile and he gave her one back.
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i just want to give a quick thanks to the few people who are reading this. i hope you are enjoying it so far!!