Chapter Text
Smooshing two chapters together this time.
Engagement: Day 33
Voicemail: 28
“Hey, Juggie. I hope you’re doing okay. I watched From Dusk Til Dawn today, number 19 on that move list you made me. I’m still trying to figure out why you thought I’d like it. Is it weird that I keep hoping you’ll pick up? It’s been two months and I wish… I don’t know. Sheriff Keller knows where you are, but all he’ll tell me is you’re safe. I’m not mad at you. I miss you.”
Xxxx
The Scientist - Coldplay
“Tell me your secrets
And ask me your questions
Oh, let's go back to the start”
Betty stood in front of the door, wondering if she should knock again. Instead, she slipped a hand into her purse and wrapped her fingers around the phone once more. The cool plastic against her fingers comforted her and reminded her why she was here. As she waited for an answer, Betty checked the address once more and prayed Jughead was still a night owl.
She waited a few more moments before knocking again. This time, the door opened and Jughead stood before her. His mouth opened and closed as he stared at her.
“Betty. What are you doing here? It’s almost two in the morning.”
“Kevin gave me your letters,” Betty said. Her words were rushed and she shifted her weight to her other foot. Jughead blanched and she continued before he could say anything. “This is yours,” she said as she held the phone out to him.
The surprised look was still on his face as he reached out to take it from her. His hand brushed hers and she jerked back at the touch, unsure of what she was feeling.
Jughead stared at the phone in his hand. “What is it?”
“Your old phone. From high school.” His head jerked up and he stared at her. Betty stared at the phone and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I went back home this weekend,” she said by way of explanation. “Archie hadn’t thrown it out yet.”
“He always was a packrat,” Jughead muttered. There was a fond note in his voice, but Betty couldn’t bring herself to look up at him.
“It still works. You’ll have to keep it plugged in though. It doesn’t keep a charge,” she said, gesturing towards the phone. When he didn’t say anything, Betty glanced up and found Jughead was staring at her. Her mouth went dry at his look, so much like it had been years ago, and she balled her hands up to keep from stepping any closer. “I just didn’t want you to think I never wanted you.”
“Betty.” He whispered her name like a prayer and Betty stepped away from him as she felt tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.
“Kevin’s waiting for me,” she said softly. Betty gave him a timid smile and made her way down the hall before she did something she might regret.
Xxxxx
Engagement: Day 34
Voicemail: 14
Boys Don’t Cry - The Cure
“I would say I’m sorry
If I thought that it would change your mind
But I know that this time
I have said too much
Been too unkind”
“Jug, you want extra pepperoni or extra sauce this time?” J.B. yelled as she entered the apartment. She kicked the door closed with her foot, absorbed in the take-out menu in her hand. She glanced up when she entered the living room and finding it empty began looking through the rooms. “Hey Jug, you here?”
“In the office,” he called out.
J.B. frowned when his voice cracked. Her brother had always been the emotional one of the siblings, but she didn’t know of any reason he would be so agitated. When she entered the office, she found him sitting on the ground next to the electrical outlet, a phone plugged into the wall beside him. There was a pained expression on his face as he listened to something on the earbuds plugged into the phone?
“Jug?” J.B. whispered. “You ok?”
He sniffed and scrubbed at his cheek. J.B. bit her lip, wondering if she was interrupting something her brother would rather keep private. Jughead glanced up at her and gestured to the phone in his hands. “She called. Over and over again,” he said. His voice was steadier this time, but from the way he refused to meet her eyes Jellybean knew exactly who he was talking about.
“Oh, big brother,” she sighed. The takeout menu forgotten, J.B. sat down on the ground beside him and lay her head against his shoulder. They sat like that for over an hour as Jughead listened to the messages long since sent.
xxxxxx
Engagement: Day 37
Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
“Whenever I get this way
I just don’t know what to say
Why can’t we be ourselves like we were yesterday
I’m not sure what this could mean
I don’t think you’re what you seem”
Jughead had rarely been one for going out during weeknights, especially now that he’d been moved to the day shift. Somehow Archie had managed to convince him for a late night dinner, though Archie’s offer to pay the tab probably had a lot to do with it. What he hadn’t expected, though was one Betty Cooper waiting outside for him outside the restaurant.
“Hey.”
Betty nodded at him. She pulled her clutch closer to her and took a step towards him. “Hi.”
The tension between them was almost tangible. Neither knew what to say now. Jughead’s bitterness had melted away to something more painful and he wasn’t sure if he was quite ready to deal with what had happened between them.
“Archie’s not coming, is he?”
Betty shook her head and bit her lip. Jughead forced himself to keep his eyes trained on hers. “I didn’t know if you’d come if I asked.”
He swallowed down the ache in his chest as her doubt in him.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Jughead nodded and held the door open for her. “Why’d you give me the phone,” he asked when they sat down.
“Why’d you give Kevin those letters?” Betty shot back, the fire in her eyes directed at him.
Instead of fighting back, Jughead sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He slouched further in his seat as he tried to find an explanation that didn’t include his hurt pride. They were quiet for a moment, and Jughead was the first to break the silence.
“Polly called me after you came by. She told me what happened, why she’d sent the letters back to me. If I had any idea how much danger I was in, I never would have written you.” Jughead paused and dropped his gaze to the linoleum table between them. “I’m sorry. For everything.”
Betty reached across the table and placed a hand over his. He looked up at her when she squeezed his hand and she gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry too. For thinking you abandoned me. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you did write, even if I didn’t know about it until a few weeks ago.” She drew her hand back and played with her empty straw wrapper. “When you never picked up or texted, I thought you’d finally had enough of me. Ever since you put that stupid jacket on, all we’d been doing was fighting. Then you left and no one knew anything about where you’d gone. At first I was scared that something had happened to you, but as time went on I just got more and more angry with you. You promised me that no matter what, we’d stay friends. That we would talk about things, work things out together. Then you disappeared. I thought you hated me.”
This time it was Jughead who leaned over and put his hand on hers. He waited until she looked up at him, unshed tears in the corners of her eyes. “You’re the last person I’d do that to, Betts,” he said softly. “Mom was an F.B.I. informant, ever since Dad joined up. That’s why she left when we were in middle school.”
Betty frowned. “Why didn’t she take you with her.”
Jughead shrugged; even know he couldn’t understand why his mother had done anything. “I don’t know. When I asked her about it, she said she knew I could take care of myself. But I was only thirteen when she left me. It wasn’t until after Dad was sentenced to six years that she came back for me. She didn’t let me say goodbye to him.”
“Juggie, I’m so sorry,” Betty said. She turned her hand over and slipped her fingers through his.
His eyes dropped to where their hands were intertwined. Betty flushed and pulled her hand out of his when she realized how intimate the gesture was.
“Do you think we could start over?” he asked.
He glanced up and found Betty smiling at him from across the table. “I’d like that.” She held her hand across the table. “Betty Cooper. Veronica’s Maid of Honor.”
Jughead grinned and shook her hand. “Jughead Jones, III. Archie’s Best Man.”
“Jughead?” Betty raised an eyebrow. “That’s an interesting name.”
“Trust me, the real thing’s worse,” he said with a laugh. After a moment, he asked, “Did you really hate From Dusk Til Dawn that much?”
Betty’s laugh brought a real smile to hips lips. It was a sound he hadn’t heard in years and one he didn’t realize how much he’s missed until now.
Xxxxx
Woo-woo! And we are done with part one! These two always want to be so nice to each other, and I don’t know if that makes writing them easier or harder considering they’ve added an extra four chapters to this already.
Part two is technically an interlude that gives a glimpse into what happened after Jughead was swept away by his mother. But since that’s more depressing (and I’d rather write the fun, pining, wistful times for now), chapter one of part three (titled Only You) will be up in like. Ten minutes.