The whole day after Betty had explained everything, it was easy. Jughead was able to work without over thinking anything, his head was empty and clear, something it hadn't been in years.
Betty was telling Kevin all about it for most of the day before she made lunch for Jughead, going outside to find him. He was sitting on the ground by the horse stalls smoking a cigarette and she couldn't help but smile at the image.
"Hi," she said tinily, Jughead smiling up at her.
"You know, you don't have to make me food, Betts." She shrugged, moving to sit next to him when he stopped her. "You're going to get your dress all dirty."
"Okay, well," she sat down in his lap and he chuckled. "Is that better?"
"I'd say so." He placed a chaste kiss to her lips, taking the sandwich from her hands. "Thank you." She hummed with a smile, Jughead putting his cigarette out.
They had talked while he ate, both laughing over small things. When he had finished she had gone back to the house, finding a book and sitting on the balcony to read. He had come inside later to find her still on her spot on the balcony, the book still in her hands but she was staring off into the fields.
He walked over to her, sitting down in a chair next to her. "What are you looking at?"
"I'm not sure." He furrowed his brows and she looked over at him, a tiny smile on her face. "You need flowers."
"Oh, that's what you're paying attention to?" He chuckled, shaking his head. "What, my house isn't girly enough for you?"
She rolled her eyes, scoffing. "No, you just... it'd make it look nice."
"You want to know who sees this house?" She furrowed her brows and he adjusted himself in his seat. "You, me, Archie, Veronica; that's it. And you and Veronica are one in the same because she constantly yells at me for having no flowers."
"Because you need some. It'd be cute."
"Now you want my house to look cute?" She laughed, nodding.
"Yes!" He smiled and leaned over to kiss her. It started slow but grew needy in minutes, Jughead moving to pick her up out of her chair. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he walked them inside and to his bedroom, closing the door with his foot.
~
Jughead flashed the cigarette to Betty and she nodded, watching him light it. "How long have you been smoking?" He glanced down at her, Betty pulling the sheet higher over her chest. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"No, no. It's fine." He tapped it into an ashtray beside his bed, taking a drag before talking again. "I think the first time I, like, tried one I was 11-years-old and my dad had left the room with one going. I was dumb so I wanted to try it and when I did I got my ass handed to me. I swore up and down I would never do it again, but about... four years later I snuck a pack of his cigarettes to school and started showing them off to be cocky. But, that showing off turned into an expensive addiction and got us here."
She turned his chin so he looked at her, her eyes running over his face. "So, technically, you've been smoking since you were 11, but you didn't actually start until you were 15?"
"Yeah, I guess so." She raised her eyebrows and he narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to listen to you tell me it's bad because I know it is, and believe it or not, I tried to stop at one point in time but failed miserably."
"I wasn't going to yell at you." He raised his eyebrows, snuffing his cigarette out in his ashtray. "I was just going to say wow and then I was also going to tell you my friend is coming."
He choked on his saliva, sitting up looking at her with wide and confused eyes as he coughed. "What?" He croaked it out, Betty wincing a little.
"H-He insisted on coming and... I can't tell him no." Jughead cleared his throat, calming down from the coughing fit he had just gone through. "And he's not even coming until the end of next week, so you have time to prepare."
"Prepare, you think that's what I do?" She shrugged and he sighed. "Why didn't you think to ask before you just openly invited him into my home?" She gave him another shrug, looking up at him with sad eyes.
"You just... I didn't think you would mind because, well, you let me stay here without any protest s-so I just thought maybe you would be okay with him coming here." He sat up and she followed, furrowing her brows when he pulled on his clothes. "What did I do?"
"What did you do? Are you..." He cut himself off, inhaling deeply. "We've slept together, what... twice and now you think you can just invite people over without asking me? You don't own this house, you don't own me, you don't pay the bills, I do. Ask me if I'm okay with things like this before you run off and do them."
She hurried off the bed when he started to walk off, pulling her dress on quickly. "Jug, let me explain-"
"No, I don't..." He turned around to face her, holding his hands out in front of him but close to his chest. "No. I'm done listening to you explain everything you do down to the beginning detail. I just need time to process this. So go to your room and... I'll see you in the morning."
"But you're mad and-and..." She swallowed and started to twist her hands.
"And what?" She shook her head, averting his glance. "You don't get to hide tomorrow morning, understand? We are over that."
She bit her lip as she nodded, waiting until Jughead walked downstairs to go to her room.
~
Betty hadn't slept well that night, waking up every few hours. She didn't have the energy to go on her run or even a walk that morning and had just laid in bed until there was a knock on her door. She had sat up with a huff, dragging her body over to the door and pulling it open.
"I'm sorry." She rolled her eyes, stepping back to pull the door open wider. "I mean it."
"Why are you apologizing? Shouldn't it be me?" He shook his head as he sat down on the bed, Betty closing the door and standing in front of him cautiously.
"I was upset at first, okay? Last night... you just invited him and I had no clue you two were even discussing that."
"Well, not to be rude, but what we talk about is none of your business." He clenched his jaw at her words, nodding.
"I know, and I was getting there. I am not entitled to knowing what you two talk about and honestly, I could care less, it's the least of my worries." She watched him and he looked up at her. "But as soon as you brought him staying here into that conversation, I needed to know. This room is the only other room besides my own with a bed in it. The other ones are empty because... the only people who have ever come out here are Archie and Veronica. I don't... they don't even come out here often, no one does."
"What does this have to do with Kevin?"
"Okay, come here." She sat down next to him and he sighed. "One: you can't sleep here anymore so you're going to have to sleep in my room because you're not sleeping on the couch or outside."
"I fell asleep out there once." He smiled and chuckled, Betty narrowing her eyes as she held back her smile.
"Two: we can't have these petty arguments because it will disrupt everything." She agreed silently, sighing. "That's really it."
"So, I gotta be out of this room by next week?"
"Mm-hm, sorry. You gotta deal with me now." He kissed the side of her head, pulling her into his side. "Also, because you get your friend, Archie will be out here after..." He looked at her as he tried to figure out his name and she raised an eyebrow.
"Kevin," she held back her laugh and he nodded.
"Yeah, I-I knew that. Just testing you."
"Sure," they both smiled a little, Betty running her eyes over his face for a moment. "I know it's early and we've only known each other for, like, a month, but what... what would you consider us to be? Because I know what I want us to be, but maybe it's too early for you which is perfectly fine, I understand. I just want to know where you stand right now."
He stayed quiet for a moment, looking down at his hands. "Okay, well, it's not like I have people lining up at my door to be with me, so I'd say we're exclusive. But... we haven't been on a 'date' unless the farmers market could have kind of been considered one? I'm not sure." He looked at her and sighed a little. Her expression held so many emotions he couldn't decide which one to focus on. "But if you want labels, okay. We'll get whatever fucking labels you want. And if you don't, that's fine, too. I'm not... in a rush to name this, whatever it is because it seems when I am, something happens and the plan for us to-to be something gets ruined."
She sat up so she was kneeling, cupping his cheeks to get him to look at her. "So, what you're saying is, if we were walking down the street and someone asked if we were dating, you'd say yes? O-Or if a girl gave you her number you wouldn't use it?"
"I don't know about that one," her jaw slacked and she shoved his shoulder, letting go of him. "I don't have your number and that's a girls number I would like to use."
"I don't like you, th-that's mean."
"Betts, you think I'm going to give you up for some random girl on the street?" He gave her an incredulous look, Betty shrugging.
"What if it was Kendall Jenner or something? She's, like, way better than me." He cringed, hissing through his teeth.
"I don't think I've seen a picture of her since, like, 2011 and she was, like, what, 14? The images in my head are horrific. And plus, her, here, in Riverdale? You're pushing it a little bit."
"She was 15 and I only know that because I was 15." He chuckled, nodding.
"Okay, so I haven't seen a picture of her since she was 15. But, even if I did see her, however she looks today, or if I saw any other woman at all, I wouldn't care. I see you, Betty, I see only you. You don't have to worry about anyone else for as long as we are together, I mean that." He had a sincere look in his eyes and she melted under his gaze.
"I have one last question." He nodded and she placed her hands on her knees. "You're not mad at me for what I did?"
"No, not anymore." He brushed her hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek. "I got over it, Betts."
"Also," she smiled brightly and Jughead pulled his hand away. "Kev's bringing me clothes from my moms house so you can see me in other clothes rather than my five dresses."
"But I love your dresses."
"He's not just bringing me clothes, Jug." His eyes widened and she smirked.
"You're trying to kill me at this point." She laughed as he kissed her, her hands moving to cup his cheeks and he slowly laid her down on the bed.
~
Jughead was just walking inside when Betty came skipping down the stairs, giving him a happy smile. "Hi, I was just coming to find you." He raised his eyebrow in question and she followed him into the kitchen. "I was wondering, when do you think we could go into town next?"
"Today." She widened her eyes in surprise and he chuckled as he put the cup he was drinking out of into the sink. "My truck is not a luxury that comes once a week, I just have no need to go to town multiple times so I just go once."
"Oh, so, we could go?" He nodded and she smiled again. "Okay. I wanted to buy flowers."
"Oh, so you're going to girl-up my house?"
"No!" She laughed and he chuckled, crossing his arms as he leaned against the counter. "Lots of guys have flowers around their houses."
"Okay, but I'm not one of them. I don't have a green thumb, I basically kill every single plant I touch ever." She raised an eyebrow and he smiled. "I'm serious! Why do you think I don't grow any of my own shit?"
She shrugged and stepped between his legs. "I can teach you how to take care of them. It's not that hard and they'll look nice, Jug. And they're not all going to be outside, you need some life in here, too."
"Fine, but only because you're the one who's teaching me." She smiled and hummed, placing a chaste kiss to his lips.
"Okay, go shower because you're all sweaty, and then we can go."
"If you say so." He kissed her again quickly, Betty stepping back from him as he moved upstairs.
~
"What are these things called again?" Betty looked up at Jughead who was sitting beside her on the porch, on the phone.
"Hydrangeas." He raised an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard to say because you've said it before."
"Archie, she's bullying me because I can't say the name of a flower." She scoffed and laughed, going back to planting the said flower. "Yeah, I know. I have flowers now."
She glanced up at him and sat back on the heels of her feet. "If you want these things to live, you gotta get off the phone and help me."
"She's kicking me off the phone now. I'll talk to you later, Arch." He hung up the phone and she frowned, watching him jump down off the porch.
"You're making me sound like a bitch." He rolled his eyes playfully, sitting down next to her.
"Trust me, you're not and he knows that." She sighed and he clapped his hands. "So, how do I do this?"
~
"I feel bad for Kevin." Jughead furrowed his brows at Betty's mumble, pulling his t-shirt off before peeling the blankets back on the bed.
"May I ask why?"
She set her book on the nightstand, sitting criss-cross under the blankets. "He has to sleep on a bed we defiled at least three times in one day."
He chuckled, shaking his head. "The things you worry about. First the dogs, then Ginger, and now this. You act like we haven't washed the sheets."
"It's just the sheets though. We corrupted the whole mattress!" She huffed while he laughed again, pulling her lightly by the arm into his lap.
"We've corrupted this mattress, too." He bit at her neck and she took in a deep inhale before letting out a long exhale. He pushed the blanket off of her, moving it with his own feet until it was at on the floor. "And the couch," he placed a kiss and sucked a bruise into her collarbone, her hands threading through his hair as he pulled her t-shirt up and slowly rolled her to lie on her back on the bed. "And the kitchen table," she laughed a little, gasping when his mouth wrapped around her nipple.
"Jug," his name came out in a sigh, her head pushing into the bed as he moved across her chest, pulling her other nipple into his mouth. He slowly moved down her body and she tugged on his hair when she realized what he was doing. "No, Jug, you don't..." he leaned up over her, Betty biting her lip nervously. "You don't have to do that."
"You're right, I don't have to but..." he kissed her languidly until she wilted into the bed and he pulled back with an arrogant smirk. "I want to, for you. So," he helped pull her shirt over her head, kissing at her neck. "Let me start again."
He made a slow descent down her body, his fingers hooking into the side of her underwear before he pulled them down her legs, dropping them to the floor. He kissed her left ankle and then her calf, nipping at her inner thigh and getting her small surprised yelp.
She was breathing heavily as he held her gaze, his eyes reassuring before he came to lean over her again. "You're okay. If you don't want me to do this, just say so."
"No, I... no ones ever done this to me before." He nodded, brushing hair from her face.
"Well, if you want me to stop, just say so, okay? Don't be afraid." He placed a quick kiss to her lips, Betty sighing. "I got you, trust me." She gave him a nod before he kissed her again, moving back down her body one last time.
She let out a surprised gasp when she felt his breath fan over her, whimpering when he placed a feather light kiss to where her leg met her body. He gave her one last reassuring look before he placed a kiss on her, Betty moaning and threading her fingers through his hair.
~
Jughead rolled over groggily, blinking and squinting at Betty who was drying her hair with a towel. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, confused as to what time it was. He tugged the sheet over his waist when it started to slip and she sat down next to him.
"Good morning." She kissed him soundly and he hummed.
"What time is it?" He grabbed his pajama pants and pulled them on, stepping out of bed and stretching his back.
"Almost nine, why?" She stood up with him, watching him walk past her to the bathroom.
"I haven't slept that long in years. Did you already go on your run?" She nodded and gave him a smile. "Um, when does your friend get here?"
"Kevin, and I'm not sure. Soon I assume." He nodded, itching his head. "I'm going to make breakfast, come downstairs when you're ready." She kissed him on the corner of the mouth quickly, leaving the bedroom.
Jughead showered quickly, getting dressed and brushing his teeth before walking downstairs. Betty was sitting on the counter, watching the pancake that was cooking in the pan beside her.
"Is that the most efficient way to do things?" He asked it with a chuckle, Betty looking up at him with a small smile of her own.
"My legs got tired," He shook his head and smiled himself, kissing her cheek. "But it's not like I'm walking away from it. I'm still watching it, even if pancakes are not what I'm good at making."
"They look great, Betts." She raised an eyebrow, shrugging.
"Eat one then." He looked at one, picking it up and biting into it. "That is not how you eat a pancake! Ah!" She laughed when he picked her up, spinning her around the kitchen. The doorbell ringing caught Betty's attention and she wriggled from Jughead's arms. "He's here!" She ran from the room excitedly and Jughead turned off the stove, following shortly after a moment, frowning when he had seen the image in front of him.
Her friend, with a name he just couldn't seem to remember, had her in a tight hug and her legs were wrapped tightly around his waist. He placed a kiss to her cheek and forehead, Betty grinning widely when he dropped her to the floor.
****
this has honestly done so much better than i thought it would. i feel like i say this every chapter but i really am super thankful for all of y'all who are interested in this and thank you so much for reading!!