Chapter Text
Both Jughead and Betty knew that Christmas as the Cooper's house was insane.
She knew from the 24 years she had spent with her family, Jughead knew from the 7 years that the Andrews, Coopers, and Jones had spent their Christmases together.
That was, of course, when they still were friends. When both Archie's and Jughead's parents were still together before FP had lost his job and begrudgingly moved to the southside with his little family of 3, soon to be 4. It was before things seemed to be not so perfect in all three families. Mary Andrews was caught having an affair and moved to New York. “It's meant to be.” she had told Fred with teary eyes and a fake smile, then left behind her son.
It seemed Jughead had gone through the same thing with his family, but at least Mary stayed in contact with her son. When he was only 9, after FP's addiction had begun, Gladys took 2-year-old Jellybean Jones and left without a moment of hesitation. He could almost see Mary Andrews in her eyes as she knelt in front of him the morning of before she had fled. “Your father needs you, Forsythe.” she had said before he got out of the car to join his friends, ignoring his wince at his real name. But he had no clue what it meant until he came home to his father sitting on the couch, his head in his hands. “I'm sorry.” he had muttered, over and over “I'm so sorry Jughead.”
That had been almost 15 years ago, and Jughead still couldn't think about it without teary eyes.
He had gone 15 years without a proper Christmas, and Betty was determined to change that. She had spent so long preparing for it, constantly reminding her mother of their extra visitor. Alice hadn't been thrilled, but Betty knew that deep down, she had always cared for the boy. Constantly sending her with extra food or clothes for the boy. “God knows he needs it,” she said most of the time, and Betty didn't miss her watery eyes every time she did.
So, as Alice's Christmas traditions had always gone, she had insisted that Betty arrive on the 23rd just as her sister was, and they stay there through the 25th just as they had every year.
Jughead didn't understand why they needed to stay all 3 days, especially when his trailer was only 30 minutes away and Betty's apartment 15. But Betty had smiled and rolled her eyes, telling him her mother had insisted and rested her hand on his thigh. Her voice was enough to convince him, let alone her wide meadow green eyes fluttering as they looked up at him under her thick lashes.
He already knew that he was done for the moment she had started talking.
So, they arrived late the night of the 23rd, with Jughead carrying in their duffel bags and Betty running in to greet her niece and nephew with a huge smile plastered on her face. Jughead smiled at the sight, loving how good Betty was with children. How nurturing and caring she was, gentle and sweet.
He was in deep.
–
Christmas Eve went by in a flash of white.
Betty woke up to Jughead and Eliza sitting on the sill of her window, staring out at the snow that was falling to the ground. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of Jughead holding the two-year-old in his arms, pointing to the snowflakes and talking softly to her, his arms wrapped around her waist to keep her from falling. Betty tried to turn as discreetly as possible onto her side to get a better view of the two without disturbing the precious moment she felt so lucky to witness.
She dug her hand under her pillow, searching the floral sheets for her phone. When she finally found it, she took a few pictures of them and sent them to Veronica, hoping Veronica wasn't about to post them everywhere and spoil her fun. Once she felt satisfied, she shoved her phone back under the pillow and rolled over, soon falling asleep again, a smile still on her lips.
–
The next time she woke up, it was to Jughead kissing her, and she smiled against his lips, still half asleep.
“Morning, sleeping beauty.” he murmured and she just grinned at him and pulled him back down to kiss him again.
She could barely restrain a moan when his hands began to wander, sliding under her shirt.
“Jug.” she groaned “We can't and you know it.”
He was about to reply when they heard somebody clear their throat from her doorway and Jughead quickly rolled off of Betty, who flushed scarlet when she saw her mother standing in front of her.
“Jughead Jones,” she said, doing her best to sound angry, but Betty could hear her playful undertone. “I told you to wake my daughter up, not assault her.”
Betty laughed as she watched Jughead stutter and blush, trying to find the right words to say.
“Sorry Mrs. Cooper.” he finally decided on, and Betty couldn't help but laugh again, watching her mother smile and leave the doorway, yelling at her as she left.
“And get dressed, Elizabeth.”
–
By noon, Alice had left the house with the twins, telling Polly and Jason that they needed to relax, and she needed some quality time with the grandchildren she got to see so rarely.
Jughead and Betty spent this time locked in her room, wrapping gifts and watching old movies on her tv. The two were too wrapped up in each other to notice the rest of the world. Hal wasn't sure how to feel about it, to see his youngest daughter obviously so love-stricken and oblivious. Polly loved the sight, though. She loved seeing her sister happy and in love, especially with someone that she knew would take of her, somebody who wouldn't hurt her. Because after all, she understood her father's fear of how this would all end if it did. She understood because all of the Cooper's had the same fear as they watched the youngest Cooper sibling with her boyfriend.
Betty didn't see the worried glances from her mother, who was the most worried out of all the Coopers. She kept a constant eye on them, and if she was honest, it was the only reason she had made them stay the full three days. She wanted to see the relationship between the ex-Serpent and her daughter. She was relieved with how at ease Betty was with Jughead, and while part of Alice told her it was only because she had known the boy since she was born, she knew that it went deeper than that. So, she let them be. Maybe they were just too worried.
Jughead, however, saw the looks on her families faces, even Jason's, and couldn't help but wonder what they were for. Betty seemed fine, and while he couldn't help the swell of sadness that lingered in his heart every holiday, he was happy to be with the Coopers for the holidays, even if the majority of their two days before the holidays consisted of him and Betty in her room, wrapping gifts for the other family members. On multiple different occasions, he had insisted that they go and join the family, but she just smiled and pulled the next gift out of her seemingly bottomless bag.
He wasn't sure why she was avoiding her family, but he did his best to ignore it and enjoy the time he got to spend with her.
–
Alice and the twins didn't return until six, and when they did, they came back with pizza and a bunch of holiday movies, declaring a family movie night.
Betty just smiled and dragged Jughead back up to her room to change into pajamas and gather blankets and pillows, but he could see the excitement that was sparkling in her eyes.
They ended up on the loveseat, the two of them slightly too close for comfort on the small chair. He still wasn't able to overlook the glances and stares from her parents and older sister. He did his best not to make eye contact, doing his best to focus on the movie that was playing or Betty who was falling asleep in his lap, but it was difficult when at least one of them was always looking. Finally, he gave up on trying to pay attention, and just let his mind wander, not knowing it would end where it always did.
His 16th year of Christmas without his sister or mother. His 2nd without his dad. He missed his family, as much as he hated to admit it. He missed his alcoholic father and the shitty gifts he seemed to pull out of his ass last minute every year. He missed the mother that abandoned him, and he missed his little sister most of all. His father had always been there for him, through everything, or at least he tried to be. The only thing that FP had never been able to help his son with was his mother and sister. The little girl he hadn't seen in 16 years and the mother who never cared for him in the first place.
By the time the movie had ended he hadn't noticed until Betty lifted her head out of his lap, speaking his name softly. He had just blinked at her, before realizing what was going on and he forced himself to smile at her despite the tears building in his eyes. He took her hand and grabbed the pillow from behind him, and let her lead him back to her room.
–
He had thought she was asleep when the first tear fell; and before he knew it, he laid with her wrapped in his arms, crying silently.
She suddenly sat up and turned to face him, causing him to hide his face, doing his best to wipe the tears off of his face before she saw them in the dark of her room.
“What's wrong?” she whispered to him, her hand searching under the blanket until she found his.
“Nothing,” he replied, pulling her back down and kissing her “go back to sleep.”
He could tell that she wanted to argue, but he shook his head and held her tighter, taking a shaky breath and praying that he wouldn't lose her too.
–
“This was a horrible idea.” he tells Betty as she pulls him into the kitchen with her mother “I'm going to mess this all up.”
“No, you won't,” she replies, and plants a kiss on his cheek “We both know you'll do fine.”
“But good enough for your mother?”
She just smiles and nods, and he sighs but decides that enough for him, even if he doesn't want to be up at six in the morning, Betty promised her mom that they would help her start cooking before they opened presents.
Alice just rolled her eyes at his whining and started pulling out ingredients.
“If you two can stop flirting for five minutes, I need you to start the cake,” she said, looking at the couple before her.
“Mom,” Betty replied with a laugh “I'm sure we can do both fine.”
They couldn't. By nine, they were both covered in flour, as well as the rest of the kitchen, and Alice had gotten caught in the crossfire. She wasn't sure if she wanted to yell or laugh. She had finally decided on the both, yelling at the two to clean their mess up with had quickly dissolved into a laugh at the look of shock on their faces when she picked up some flour and threw it back them.
All that had started was a food fight, which, had hit their next innocent bystander, Chic Cooper, who had just walked through the door and got hit with a flying cupcake that Jughead had thrown. That hadn't helped them much, however, because his eyes gleamed with mischief as he picked it up off of the ground, throwing it back at his mother.
Soon, the four of them had the kitchen in pieces, food all over the ground and walls, and Jughead almost couldn't process that this was actually happening, especially since he had never seen a speck of dust in the home of Alice Cooper, let alone a full-on food fight. A food fight that hadn't stopped until Hal came bounding down the stairs with his granddaughter in one arm, too see his kitchen covered in flour, cupcakes, and crumbled pieces of cookies. For a second, the four participating could have sworn that he was about to join them, but he laughed and smiled, turning away after a moment, telling them to clean both their mess and their selves.
Both Jughead and Betty already knew that this would definitely be a Christmas to remember.
–
Just as Cooper tradition had gone since Polly was born, presents were opened at noon. Chic handed his presents out first, giving one to everyone but Jughead, who he hadn't known would be there. Jughead just smiled and waved it off, telling him it was fine, he had all he needed anyways and wrapped his arm around Betty. Elliot and Eliza went next, bursting with joy at every present that they opened and giving out random hugs. Jughead smiled while he watched the two, remembering his last Christmas with his baby sister, who had spent nearly the entire Christmas following him around and clinging to him, almost as if somehow, the two-year-old knew what was to come.
He leaned over and whispered to Betty that he'd be back before excusing himself, going to the Cooper's back patio. He sat down on their bench and sighed, trying to regain his composure as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit Gladys' contact. The ringing seemed to go on for forever before he heard his mother's voice come through.
“Hello?” It was obvious that she still hadn't saved his number, the one he had been calling her with for nearly 11 years.
“Hey Mom,” he said, trying to ignore the tears already building in his eyes.
“Oh.” she sighed, almost as if she were disappointed in him for something and he couldn't help but wonder for what this time, it wasn't as if she knew what he did with his life. “I suppose you're calling to talk to your sister.”
“Once every year Mom.”
“You have five minutes.”
“I know Mom.”
There was a moment of silence before he heard Jellybean's voice, as happy and excited as it had been when she left.
“Jug! You called!”
“Of course I did JB.” he laughed, wiping at the tears in his eyes “I'd never miss my call, and you know it.”
“Yeah, I do.” he didn't miss the way her voice had lost some of the enthusiasm from only moments before.
“So, how's your Christmas going?” he asked, trying to lift the mood
“It's going amazing, Jug! I mean, the same as every year, but it's amazing every year so.” she ended with a laugh which filled him with a mixture of sadness and happiness for his little sister. “How's your going?”
“Mine's been pretty good, JB. Not spending it alone this year, so that's nice.” he said with a laugh before continuing “No, but it really is going good JB.”
“That's good, I hate it when you spend them alone.”
“Me too.”
He heard Gladys shout from the back that he had a minute left and he sighed, trying to ignore his watery eyes.
“You know what that means.” he sighed
“Yeah,” JB whispered. “I wish it didn't have to be like this.”
“I know, JB, neither do I.”
“I miss you.”
“I miss you too, JB. I'll call you next year.”
“Okay. I love you, Jug.”
He couldn't stop the tears by now.
“I love you too, JB.” he choked out, and then the line went dead, and he briefly wondered how he had ever considered Gladys his mother.
It was another 15 minutes before he went back inside.
–
The rest of the day passed much to fast to Betty, but Jughead was relieved. Betty had seemed to notice his anxiety and ended up holding his hand through the majority of the day. By 8, they had their stuff packed to go home and Jughead couldn't wait to be back in the comfort of his own home with his girlfriend. He said his goodbyes to the Coopers and let Betty say hers before he grabbed her hand and nearly dragged her out to the truck, doing his best to smile as they got their stuff into the back of his truck.
The drive home was silent, but he did his best to let Betty know that it wasn't her fault. He held her hand and would give her small smiles trying to assure her that it wasn't her after seeing the look on her face as they drove.
Once they got home he pulled their bags out of the car as she went inside to prepare for bed. He dropped the bags beside the front door and headed for the bedroom. He took off his pants and laid in bed, listening to the shower run, and he was asleep before Betty was even in bed with him.
–
The next night, he wasn't nearly as lucky. By midnight, he was still wide awake, his thoughts already running and the tears already gathering in his eyes. He looked at Betty sleeping next to him and leaned over to kiss her forehead before dragging himself out of bed and to the Whyte Wyrm.
–
Betty didn't wake up until around 2. Turning over, she reached for Jughead and all she found was an empty, cold bed. She got out of bed, pulling the blanket around her and began walking through the trailer.
She found Jughead on the couch with his head in his hands, and although she couldn't see his face, his shoulders shook and she could hear him crying. She walked over to him and sat next to him, already smelling whiskey. Not only was he crying and alone, but he was drunk too. She ran a soothing hand along his back, trying to do her best to coax her boyfriend.
“Juggie.” she whispered to him in the darkness “Jug, what's wrong.”
He didn't respond, only merely shook his head and continued to cry into his hands.
“Jug, look at me.” he didn't move “Jug. C'mon, look at me.” Slowly he lifted his head and her heart broke at the sight. She pulled him in for a hug, holding him tighter than usual before she pulled back. “What's wrong, Juggie.” She asked, lifting her hand to wipe the tears from his cheeks.
“I'm sorry, Betty.” he choked out instead of answering and she shook her head and took his hands in her own before replying.
“You have no reason to be sorry, now what's wrong Juggie?”
He started to cry again and Betty stayed beside him, occasional squeezing his hands or wiping away his tears until he was ready to talk.
“I just miss- miss her so much, Betty.” he hiccuped through his sobs. “I haven't seen her in- in so so long.” She nodded and encouraged him to go on “My mom only- she only let's me talk to her for- for five minutes once a year and- and with my dad in rehab and Arch- Archie spending his Christmases with Ronnie this is- this is the first Christmas I haven't been alone in almost three- three years and I guess I was a little overwhelmed but- but I just wanted you to have a good holiday.”
“Juggie, baby.” her heart broke at his words “My holiday was amazing just because you were there with me, I couldn't ask for more.” She brought him in for another hug and blinked away the tears in her own eyes. “And with me around, you will never have to have another Christmas alone, Juggie. I promise. I won't allow it to happen, never again.” She felt him nod against her shoulder and she pulled away to help him stand. “Now, c'mon, you need to sleep, it's late and you'll feel better in the morning.”
He didn't respond, just simply nodded, and she led him back to their bed and didn't go back to sleep until he was asleep.