Song Credit: "Curly Cue" by Melanie Martinez
Disheveled from her nap and eyes sunken in, Betty walked from her shared room to the living room, where Jughead was sitting with his laptop on his lap. She offered a small smile as he looked up, greeted with the words, "Get some rest, sleepyhead?" She nodded and sat beside him, laying her head on his thigh and curling her legs up to her stomach.
"You okay, baby?" Jughead asked as he looked down from his laptop at his blonde. "Tired," Betty yawned, her voice thick with sleep. "Did you have any dreams?" He asked softly. "No," she answered shortly. "You haven't had any in a while, huh?" he asked, looking down and brushing her hair behind her ear.
She shook her head, her cheek rubbing against the denim as she brought her gaze to the screen, reading his words like she loved doing. "I dunno about this paragraph," Jughead said as he sighed, pointing to his writing. "I think it sounds great," Betty said exhausted, blinking at the bright screen. "You sure?" he asked, looking down again at the blonde whose eyes could barely stay open.
She nodded as he set the laptop aside pulling her gently to lay more comfortably against his lap. "Taking a break?" Betty asked, sighing into the touch of his fingertips tracing circles on her shoulder. "It can wait for now," Jughead corrected, leaning over to kiss her head.
"It's okay if you want to keep working" Betty murmured. "It's okay, really, love. How was your day?" He asked softly, brushing back her hair. "Boring," she answered, blandly. "You?" "It's been alright," Jughead answered. "We can go do something if you don't wanna be bored," he offered, before Betty negated him, remarking, "No, I'm....I'm worn, and I don't really feel like going out," she explained.
"Aww, babe," Jughead sighed, having heard this for the last couple of weeks. "What?" Betty asked shakily. "I'm worried about you, what's going on, sweetheart?" "It's nothing, really, I just...I dunno, I'm just drained," she answered softly, her eyes closing slowly beyond her control. "Betts," he said softly until he realized she was already asleep.
The blonde quickly jolted back awake, once she opened her eyes once more she began to sit up, "What's wrong, baby? Can you explain why you're so drained?" "It's just hard for me to think and focus and I," she paused, noticing how worked up she was getting as she talked with her hands, thoughts spiraling.
"It's just been a hard week," she sighed, slumping and feeling defeated by herself. "I know, babygirl," he said, bringing her into his arms while her head laid on his shoulder. "I know it was." The blonde nodded solemnly and laid her head back on his shoulder, taking his hand in hers for comfort. Before her eyes closed shut once more Jughead gently laid her down on his lap, tucking her hair behind her ear in a comforting rhythm. "Get some sleep, angel. You're safe."
It was in those fleeting moments between consciousness and sleep that Betty decided that her favorite lullaby was Jughead's voice, her favorite blanket was his jacket draped delicately over her figure and her favorite pillow was his lap.