Betty and Jughead spent the next few weeks sneaking into his projection booth at the Drive-In during every free moment, she lying to her parents about studying with Kevin while she actually spent time with Jughead as much as possible.
Not that they got lots of studying done.
The sleepless nights of doing her homework on her bed, writing articles for the Blue and Gold, and practicing cheerleading moves in front of the mirror left the girl exhausted for most days, though. Jughead had tried convincing her that they'd be fine for a few separate days so that she could catch up with her sleep, but Betty refused to hear anything about it, and usually succeeded in leaving the conversation there by distracting him.
A week later, Jughead found that if he promised her more quality time with him during the weekend, she would agree to go home after school, a few times even falling asleep on his lap in the Blue and Gold when the classes were over.
Then, after a few days, he realized that even as his girl was getting more sleep, she still looked just as tired while walking or even standing up. He kept his eyes on her during lunch, sitting in the nearest table possible with the Serpents, and soon enough found out the issue.
Betty wasn't eating.
Usually, her anorexia (yes, he had googled the symptoms) meant her skipping breakfast or dinner, or even both, while she always at least ate half of her salad during lunch.
This time was different. She didn't even bother to buy anything from the cafeteria to keep fooling others, and usually just grabbed an apple which she'd take one bite out of before throwing it away.
Jughead heard Veronica and Kevin talking about it quite often, asking her concerned questions about if she were okay, and everything along the same lines, but every time they did, Betty would just snap at them and walk away.
The boy brushed it off a few times, until a Wednesday when she was forced to sit with other cheerleaders to talk about their routines and establish new choreographies if needed. That's when he understood something was seriously wrong with her, more than usual.
Cheryl pulled Betty to the side, which just happened to be right next to the Serpents' table, Jughead sharing a quick glance with both of the girls. He saw Joaquin tense as well once they stopped.
"Betty, I'm worried about you," the redhead stated, making the blonde roll her eyes and huff while crossing her arms in a sassy manner.
"Whatever for, Cheryl?" she asked with a fake smile.
The girl narrowed her eyes a bit, placing her hands on her hips. "You're not eating," she bluntly said.
Betty shifted on the spot, rolling her eyes, stopping for a moment on Jughead. She kept quiet as Cheryl kept going on and on about her health and how cheerleading and disorders didn't go together. Until the blonde's face fell straight, bluntly glaring at her "cousin".
Jughead understood what Cheryl was doing. She was trying to direct him to notice Betty's eating disorder, not knowing he was already aware of it. That's why she had chosen to stand by the snakes of all places.
"I'm fine," Betty kept repeating at every question, not even answering them, until the redhead snapped.
"You're not fine!" she yelled into her face, the whole cafeteria silencing down as a response, all eyes on them.
"Yes, I am. Just fucking leave it!" There was a collective gasp when everyone heard Elizabeth Cooper swearing. "I know what you're doing right now, so stop! He knows!"
And with that, Betty ran out of the cafeteria, fuming mad.
Jughead gaped after her until she was gone which was when he turned his attention to Cheryl who was glaring him down, wordless. The redhead stared directly into his eyes for a moment before running out of the cafeteria just as Betty had.
The whole room started whispering, but soon enough everyone had forgotten it. Jughead blocked everyone out until he heard one of the Serpents chuckling, shaking her head. "Wait till FP hears that the Cooper girl has problems with eating out of all things. Eating," she said.
"What the fuck?" Joaquin fumed back and made sure to hold Jughead down on his seat, the boy's knuckles cracking while fisting his hands. "You better fucking shut up about this. She hasn't done anything to you."
"Oh, you're friends now?" the same girl sneered.
"I worked with her during the summer. She's a nice girl, she wants nothing to do with her mom. You can't point at people because of their parents. It's just like saying you're gonna attempt suicide as your father did."
The girl's face fell flat, fire in her eyes. "If you like this slut more than you like me then fucking leave, DeSantos."
Jughead got up, his friend following, and even as both of them would've loved to give the girl a good fist in her face, they forced themselves to walk away, Fangs and Sweet Pea following with Toni who ran to them from the cheerleaders' table.
"Where to, boss?" Pea asked when out in the hall, and Jughead abruptly stopped, frowning as he slowly turned around to look at him in confusion.
Boss? Pea had addressed him as boss?
Wow.
"Uh... Why didn't you stay?"
"I agree with what Joaquin said. Even though I don't like the Cooper girl much, or her parents, I don't think an eating disorder is anything to blackmail anyone by."
Jughead frowned at the slightly pitying look in Sweet Pea's eyes and slowly nodded his thanks. The boy remembered what had happened to his mother, and even though they weren't friends anymore, he remembered the way Jughead had reacted to it.
"Thanks, Pea. You can just go. I was heading to class."
Betty ran into the Blue and Gold after the incident in the cafeteria. It was the first place that came to her mind that made her feel safe.
It was a mistake.
Not even a minute after the blonde had sat down in a chair to try and calm down, tears streaming down her face, the door opened and closed, another girl stepping inside. She had red hair, freckles, and with a sigh, Betty dropped her face into her hands again, wishing she looked like that.
She never felt pretty.
Ethel gave her a sympathetic smile as she took a seat beside the girl, waiting until Betty looked up with a sigh. "Look, Ethel, I'm not feeling the best, so..."
"No, I understand," the girl quickly said.
Betty's eyebrows furrowed together. "What?"
"I basically didn't eat once for a week, so I know what you're going through, Betty," she said, the smile on her face seeming pitiful.
With a sigh, the blonde rested her head against the wall behind them, tears pricking in her eyes and voice choking together as she spoke. "I'm sorry you felt the need to do that, Ethel, but honestly, it's not the same."
"What do you mean?"
Betty shifted on her spot, turning her head away, and the girl next to her patiently waited for a minute until she was ready to admit it, in a bare whisper. "I'm anorexic."
"Oh," Ethel exhaled, her eyes scanning Betty's body for a moment, making the blonde even more uncomfortable. "Well, look at me," she said, and with a sigh, Betty complied, staring into her beautiful blue eyes. "Do you see my body? I wish I could be anorexic."
"Out," they suddenly both heard, heads snapping toward the source of the voice. Betty's head fell back into her hands, realizing Jughead had heard all or most of it, while Ethel just raised her eyebrows.
"Excuse me?"
"Out," the boy repeated, pointing at the door. "Get out. Now."
His voice was laced with fury and that was the only reason the girl scrambled off the chair, and after throwing a cautious look to Betty, left. With a silent growl at Ethel, Jughead locked the door behind him and placed his bag on the ground before moving to sit where she had sat, right next to his girl.
He let her cry as his arm wrapped around her shoulders and led her into his chest, just holding her until she calmed down.
"Jug, I'm sorry," she soon whispered.
With a sigh, the boy looked at her. "What are you sorry about?"
She sniffled while wiping her eyes clean and shrugged. "Not eating."
Jughead sighed, resting his cheek against her head. "Baby, that's not something you should apologize for."
As if not hearing his statement, Betty shook her head. "I'm so tired of all my extracurriculars, and when I do get home and get all done, I still can't sleep 'cause my mom and dad are still fighting. I don't have time for food anymore, and when I do, I just don't want any, and as if it causing me stress isn't enough, Cheryl has to bring it up while we're eating lunch. Then Ethel comes and says she wishes she had a body like mine, and..." she trailed off with another sob.
Jughead sighed, holding her in his arms and whispering sweet nothings into her ear. He reminded her about how much he loved her, made some funny comments about other things, and finished it off with complementing her soft hair that he was resting against.
"Betts," he sighed, "I've been trying to help you for a while, and you were doing really good for some time, but relapses happen, and it's okay not to know what you should do next. It's okay to feel out of control."
"I've never felt in control," she cried, hands fisting. "My whole life, my mother has told me what to do, when to do it, and now that I'm becoming an adult, she's even worse. I just can't handle this stress and those expectations. Sometimes I just think I should..."
Jughead gulped, waiting for her to continue, but Betty's eyes were now directed to the floor, tears wetting the ground beneath their feet. "You should what, Betty?"
"Doesn't matter," she whispered.
He watched her for a while as she wiped away her tears, made sure her makeup was still on place, and then stood from her chair. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"Class will start in a few minutes," she stated with a sniffle, grabbing her bag.
Jughead got up as well, but instead of taking a hold of his bag, he reached for her hand, stopping her from leaving. "Baby," he said, the vulnerability present in his shaky voice, "please. Talk to me."
The girl stood there for a moment, facing the door, her hand still in his, as she made the decision. Jughead's heart pulsated in his sleeves, holding his breath. Until Betty turned around to give his mouth a soft, gentle kiss.
"Let's talk later, Jug. I can't miss class."
"You still coming here to write the paper, yeah?" His voice was unsure.
"Of course," Betty mumbled and leaned on her tiptoes to plant another kiss on his mouth. "I love you."
The look on her face made his heart break. Her green eyes were bright and insecure, lower lip drawn in between her teeth. He watched her for a moment as she shifted from foot to foot, waiting for an answer.
She wanted to know if he still loved her as well.
"I love you more," he whispered.
A grin came over Betty's face. "Cheesy," she said in a sing-a-song voice.
Jughead chuckled and watched her leave with a peck to his cheek, smiling as she did so.
They had a talk after school, Jughead once again gently guiding his words toward the possibility of her seeing a therapist. Betty, of course, frowned at that and shook her head, but listened to everything he had to say before distracting him with a row of kisses.
It wasn't that he didn't know what she was doing, but he understood she had gotten a bit uncomfortable with the conversation, and the last thing he wanted to do was to make her feel bad.
They sat in the Blue and Gold for an hour or so, writing and editing articles together, Betty adding some of her photographs to them until both of them were exhausted from all of it and after saving, closed their laptops.
Jughead went to sit on the comfy armchair in the room and closed his eyes, resting his head against the back of it, until a few minutes later he realized Betty hadn't joined him. His eyes cracked open, looking over at the girl who was staring at a big poster on the wall.
He recognized it immediately. Of course, he did, the same posters were all over the school, and had been for a few days.
What he didn't know was why the girl was staring at it while chewing on her lip.
"Betts?" he called, only earning a hum as a reply. "What are you doing?"
She threw one last look to the poster before turning around and smiling at him miserably. "Nothing," she said and walked over to him, plopping herself down onto his lap.
A silent "oof" escaped his lips as that happened, his arms automatically making their way around her.
"You're not going to the dance, are you?" the girl mumbled as she carefully took off his beanie, placing it on her own head. She ran both of her hands through his thick black hair with a grin lingering on her lips.
"Nope, why?"
Jughead's face matched his, one hand reaching up to fix the crown beanie on her head, loving the look on her.
"I was just thinking... Maybe you'd like to go with me?"
There was this hopeful glint in her eyes as they stared at one another, a tiny smile playing on her lips. Jughead lost himself in it, already seeing it in his imagination the two of them taking a silly picture at a photobooth, Betty in a short white dress, him in formal pants with nice shoes and a dress shirt.
Guilt flashed his eyes as he understood it could never be true.
And Betty seemed to realize just as he did, even though she wasn't the one to speak up first.
"Betts, I can't go to the dance with you... I can't put you at risk like that."
"Oh," she whispered, nodding. "Yeah, of course. Sorry, I didn't... I didn't mean anything by that."
She turned away her head, lowering it as her eyes fell shut, and Jughead sighed, caressing the side of her face before kissing her cheek.
"Baby, I'm really sorry. I'd love to come with you. But I can't."
"I know," Betty said and when she turned back to him, she managed a smile. "Sorry for asking. I just... got lost in the fantasy, I guess."
With a sigh, Jughead tugged her flush against his body, nuzzling his nose into her hair. "That fantasy sounds pretty perfect right about now."
"No gangs, no Northside or Southside..." she whispered.
"No alcoholic or overbearing parents..." he added in a murmur.
"Just you and I," she sighed, resting her head against his. "Why couldn't it just be that easy?"
"I don't know... I guess we don't live in a book."
"Sounds like we do, actually." With a genuine giggle that he was glad to hear, Betty leaned away a bit to see into his eyes. "Looks like we're the real-life Romeo and Juliet, Jug."
"Seems like it," he agreed with a grin of his own, tilting his head upward to kiss the girl sitting on his lap.
God, how he loved her.
When Betty left a while later, Jughead staying a few minutes behind so that nobody could see them leaving together, his eyes were glued to the words on the huge poster. "Homecoming dance," he whispered.
With a sudden grin on his face, he grabbed his bag and made sure to lock the room as he left.
Homecoming Dance. He was going to create one of their own.
☆☆☆
Hehe the next chapter will be a little bit cheesy I think (:
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