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Life and Death
The minute FP came out of the woods carrying the limp body of Jughead, Betty felt like the world just stood still. She felt she couldn’t breathe and thought that she might suffocate. Her heart shattered into a million pieces in seeing the love of her life like that. Her vision was so blurred from the waterfalls that were her tears, that she didn’t see FP collapse to his knees. “NOOOO” Betty screamed in absolute pain and heartbreak. She doesn’t remember running to FP and collapsing to her knees in front of Jughead.
She cups his face in her hands and leans her forehead on his, completely ignoring the messiness and the blood. “No no Jughead it can’t end like this. Our story isn’t over. It’s just beginning” Betty was saying to her prone-looking boyfriend. Seeing Betty and Jughead like that broke the hearts of Sweet Pea, Toni, Cheryl, and Archie. Both FP and Betty don’t even register Archie calling 911 for an ambulance. FP’s head was on Jughead’s stomach and he was trying to stay strong but he was failing miserably, while Betty was still continuing holding his face in her hands, their foreheads still touching.
For a moment she and FP shared a look and embraced. They suddenly broke out of it when they heard Archie calling them. They both turned to him and then he said “An ambulance is here. You guys need to move away, so they can take him to the hospital.” It took a while but Betty and FP made way for the paramedics to place him on a stretcher and move him to the ambulance. Archie came up to Betty and she immediately embraced him and just cried into his shoulder. Archie comforted her as best as he could. “We need to get to the hospital ASAP. I’ll call Veronica on the way.” Betty nodded at him and they moved towards Fred’s truck. FP came along with them.
And the trio made their way to Riverdale General. Archie parked the truck and they noticed the ambulance was already there. They got out and rushed inside. When they neared the receptionist’s desk, FP asked “Hi, we’re looking for a Jughead Jones who was just brought in.” The receptionist looked up at him and said “Yes, he was just brought in. The doctors moved him to a room to be prepped for surgery. I’m afraid there’s nothing to do but wait for the doctors to come out.” “Thank you,” Betty said and smiled at the receptionist, and they moved to the waiting room and sat on different chairs.
Suddenly Veronica arrived and immediately went over to Betty and hugged her tightly. Betty returned the hug. “I’m so sorry B. Is there any news?” Veronica asked her as they pulled away. Betty sniffles and says “Uhh no not at the moment. We’re still waiting on an update from the doctors.” Veronica nodded sadly before sitting down next to Betty and comfortingly holding her hand. Betty smiles at her and appreciates the comfort. She was glad to have Archie and Veronica by her side, and FP as well. She looked over to see FP and her heart broke. He was sitting in a chair and had his head in his hands and he was shaking and she can tell that he is sobbing silently.
10 minutes have gone by and the not knowing was starting to get to Betty. Suddenly a doctor came out and was making his way toward them. Betty calls out to FP to get his attention and she, Archie, and Veronica stood up from their seats. “Are you here for a Jughead Jones?” the doctor asked them. FP answers “Yes, he is my son.” The doctor looked at him and said “The surgery was successful, but Mr. Jones your son’s body has suffered a lot. He’s suffered multiple lacerations across his body, both of his legs are broken as well as his left arm. He also suffered trauma to his head. A couple of his ribs are cracked as well. He’s unconscious in a room now. You may see him.” They all thanked the doctor.
The enormity of Jughead’s injuries hits FP like a freight train. The current Serpent King just fell to his knees and let the tears fall, to hell with being the strong one. Betty immediately went to him and they both embraced and were just both sobbing messes on the hospital floor. Archie went over to them and said “I’m really sorry guys but maybe we should pay Jug a visit.” Both Betty and FP wiped their tears and nodded at Archie and so the four of them made their way to Jughead’s room. Once they went inside, they were all shocked to see the boy, who was deemed the soul of Riverdale by Betty Cooper, in his current state. Both of his legs and his left arm were in casts, his head was bandaged and what was not covered, they all saw the different cuts and wondered how many covered his body. “My son,” FP said softly at his only son, wiping away a stray tear. “Juggie” breathed out Betty, as she moved to his side and grabbed his non-bandaged hand. She gave it a kiss and stroked a thumb over it. Archie carefully placed a hand on one of Jughead’s broken legs. He let a few tears fall at seeing his best friend like this. Veronica, being very careful, managed to lean over and place a kiss on Jughead’s uncovered forehead. “Please come back to us Juggie” Betty tearfully said, placing another kiss on his hand.
Jughead, unbeknownst to his dad, girlfriend, and friends, was having vivid dreams while still unconscious. The first one he had, he finds himself in Riverdale High’s student lounge. He doesn’t know why he’s here until he sees the three people he cares the most about in this world. Archie, Veronica, and Betty were standing together and they were wearing their graduation gowns and hats. So it was graduation day. For reasons unknown to him, he moves toward them even though they can’t see him. He sees Mrs. Cooper, Mr. Andrews, Mrs. Andrews, and Mr. and Mrs. Lodge standing in front of Archie, Veronica, and Betty and taking pictures of them. “I can’t believe you guys have made it to this point in time” Fred Andrews suddenly said, voice full of pride. “Yes I’m so proud of you Elizabeth,” Alice Cooper said to Betty. “We are proud of you too Mija,” Hiram Lodge said looking at Hermione and then at Veronica. Betty said, “Thanks Mom, I just really wish that Jughead was here with us.” That last part made Jughead do a double take. What do you mean? Where am I? were questions that were running through his mind. Suddenly Archie turned towards him and talked to him like he was there “Don’t you remember what happened on Riot Night?” Jughead was about to answer before Veronica jumped in and said “Don’t you remember what Penny and the Ghoulies did to you?” Suddenly his head started to head and he winced. Suddenly hearing footsteps behind him, he turns around and is met by Malachai who suddenly swings a spiked club at him, and then everything went dark.
Back in the real world, Betty was still sitting next to Jughead, holding his hand. FP is standing in a corner, while Archie and Veronica went out to go get some food for them. “She cut his tattoo off” FP suddenly said, voice tainted with anger and poison. Betty looks up at him and asks “What do you mean?” FP looks at her and answers “The bandage on his right arm. That’s the place he had his tattoo. It was Penny Peabody’s doing. Ever since he cut her tattoo off, she’s been wanting to do it back to him. Now she had her chance.” With that last part, he angrily slams a fist against the wall. “She can’t get away with this can she?” Betty asks, her own anger starting to show. He rubs a hand over his face before he says “She won’t and the worst thing is that I and the Serpents have to get ready to go against the Ghoulies in a rumble. I’ve rallied all of them as well as the reserves. I sadly won’t be here to see my Jug get better. But you, Archie, and Veronica need to be here for him. Can you promise me that?” Betty nods at him and says “Absolutely Mr. Jones. You can trust us. Also please be careful.” With that last statement, she momentarily gets up and walks over to FP to give him a hug. He returns it and he also places a kiss on the side of her head. “Goodbye Betty,” he says to her. “Bye Mr. Jones,” she says back to him. He then leaves the room and once again, she is left alone with her injured boyfriend. She grabs his hand, and while stroking a thumb over it suddenly says “You know what’s crazy. All my life I thought that I would be together with Archie. The All-American boy with the perfect girl next door. It sounds perfect but then something amazing happened. A boy from the wrong side of the tracks climbed into my bedroom window and kissed me. That’s when my concept of what love is changed. You changed my life Juggie for the better. You were honestly the best thing to ever happen to me and I won’t be able to go on without you. I need you with me.” And with that, she started sobbing.
Jughead finds himself in another dream. He finds himself in front of the Cooper house. He walks through the front door. He hears crying and heads toward the living room. He is sad to see Betty huddled up on the couch with Alice Cooper, and she is comforting Betty. He inches closer to hear what they are saying. “I didn’t think it would be this hard, Mom. Like I feel it’s hard to breathe” Betty tearfully said crying into Alice’s shoulder. Alice tried to console her by saying “Oh Elizabeth, it’s ok. But I swear to you that this will pass and you will find another that will capture your heart.” Betty then pulled her away and looked at her mother before saying “That’s just it Mom. I really thought that Jughead and I were soulmates and were meant to be. We were meant to get married, have kids, and live somewhere that’s not Riverdale. Now I can never have that because he’s gone.” Jughead couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He fell to his knees and hopes to God that he can wake up soon, just so can look into Betty’s green eyes again and be there with her. “Hey there Jones” came a voice he was all too familiar with. He turns his head to see Penny Peabody walking toward him. She suddenly brandished a knife and once again everything went black.
Betty, Veronica, and Archie were all sitting in Jughead’s room eating food that Archie and Veronica brought back from Pop’s. What happened to FP, Betty?” Archie suddenly asked her whilst taking a sip from his cup of soda. After swallowing a bite from her burger, she answers “He had to leave to take part in this rumble with the Serpents against the Ghoulies. That was a while ago and I haven’t heard from him since. I hope everything’s ok. But right now, my focus is just on seeing Juggie recover.” “And we will be here with you B through that” Veronica said to Betty while flashing her a smile. Betty smiles back and sees Archie nod at her and she gives him a smile as well. “He’s a fighter Betty, we all know this and he will pull through,” Archie said to her. Veronica jumps in and says “I’ve said this before B and I’ll say this again. You and Jughead are soulmates and nothing will ever change that.” Betty couldn’t help but cry at what she heard. She manages to say “I love you guys so much. I’m glad you are here with me.” And so they spent the next few hours just talking and just being there with each other and being there with Jughead, who continues to be unconscious and continues to dream.
No please not another one was a thought that was running through Jughead’s mind as he finds himself in another dream. This time he was in what looked like a cemetery. He wanders around it for a bit, looking at certain gravestones for absolutely no reason at all. Then he turns his head and sees a scene he was hoping he would never ever see. No, please. Not this he was pleading inside his mind. He sees Archie, Betty, and Veronica standing in front of a grave. As much as he doesn’t want to, he moves toward them. He notices that both Betty and Veronica were wearing black dresses and Archie, for whatever reason, was wearing his Bulldogs varsity jacket. When he inches closer, he hears what they are saying. “Come back to me Jug. Our story is not over, it’s just beginning. Come back to me Jug” he hears Betty saying, with both Archie and Veronica looking sad and solemn. Then all of a sudden, something is happening to Jughead and suddenly he is waking up and letting out a groan.
He looks around the room he’s in and lays eyes on his dad, sitting in a chair in the corner. “Dad” he groans out. FP, who was sleeping, suddenly jolted himself awake. “Jug” he whispers, not sure if what he was seeing was real or not. “Are you really awake?” he asks, just to be sure. “Yeah Dad, I’m back” he managed to say, still in extreme discomfort. FP breathes out a sigh of relief, before moving closer to sit on a chair next to Jughead. “ Let me get a nurse and I’m going to call Betty and the others.” Jughead immediately felt sad at the mention of Betty that she had to see him like this, but in his heart, he knows she’s the reason he came back. “Thanks, Dad” was all he could manage to say.
FP smiles at his son before leaning down to plant a kiss on his forehead. He then leaves Jughead alone in his room. He leans back in his bed and thinks about the dreams he experienced while he was unconscious. They were vivid but he knows how terrible they really were. He absolutely does not want to leave Betty like that. Suddenly the doctor and a nurse, along with FP, entered the room. “Betty, Archie, and Veronica are on their way,” FP said to him. Jughead nodded at him. “How are we feeling today Mr. Jones?” the doctor asked him. Jughead smiles at him and answers “I’m alright, doctor. It would be nice to get out of this room.”
The doctor chuckled before saying “I’m afraid it’s possible you will have to rest here for a couple of days. You have suffered severely and we will need to do quite a few tests just to see if everything is functioning properly.” Jughead nodded at what the doctor had said. With FP observing from a corner in the room, the doctor and his nurse spent the next hour running tests and taking notes. Afterward, the doctor said to Jughead “Congrats Mr. Jones, everything is working perfectly fine. Now it’s understood you have visitors waiting for you outside. We shall let them in, and we will continue to monitor you for the foreseeable future alright?” “Thanks, doc” Jughead responded, eagerly awaiting his visitors. “I’ll give you and your friends some space, but I’ll be back because I have things to talk about with you,” FP said to Jughead before leaving the room.
Jughead was weirded out about what his dad said. What would he want to talk about? He was ripped from his thoughts when his door opened and the three people he’s been hoping to see piled in. “Juggie oh thank god,” said Betty as she ran to his side. She plants a kiss on his forehead. “Jug it is so good to see you awake. We were scared for a while” Archie said to him, carefully placing a hand on his shoulder, and giving him a smile. “It’s great to see you guys,” Jughead said while starting to tear up. Betty grabs his hand, and while softly stroking a thumb over it says “Hey hey it’s ok Juggie. You’re here now, alive and well.” He scoffs slightly and says “Yeah but I’m going to be here for a few days. Both my legs and my arm are broken. Not to mention I have a ton of scars. All because of a stupid decision.” This made Archie, Betty, and Veronica give him a quizzical look. “What are you talking about Juggie?” Betty asked softly.
Jughead let out a sigh before saying “I wasn’t going to mention it, but you guys deserve to know. Riot Night was a Hiram Lodge orchestrated mousetrap. He planned it all and he was the one who sent in the Ghoulies. I called Hiram out on this and gave him a counter offer. I hand myself off to Penny and the Ghoulies and there would be no bloodshed the next day. But I should have known that he would double cross me because it seems that Hiram put a hit out on me and paid the Ghoulies to complete it. I’m sorry Veronica and I’m sorry for risking my life like that.” He then puts a hand over his face and turns his head away, so that they can’t see him break down.
And then something happened that he never would have seen coming. Veronica, of all people, went over to him and gave him a hug. He was so completely taken aback by her show of affection, that he didn’t register Archie and then Betty hug him as well. “I feel like I don’t say this enough, but I love you guys. Especially you Betty Cooper” Jughead said while looking at Betty after the last part. She flashes him a smile that she only reserves for him. “And we love you too Jug. Me and Veronica will leave you too alone for a while. Come on Veronica” Archie said to Jughead while looking at Veronica and motioning with his head that they get going. Veronica nodded at him and they made their way out of the room.
Jughead and Betty were now alone together in his room. “Betty” Jughead was about to say something before Betty cut him off. She angrily looks at him and says “No don’t Betty me. That phone call you made to me was like a goodbye wasn’t it? God Juggie, how could you do that? To me? To your dad and to your friends?” The way she was looking at him made Jughead wish he could just melt into his bed, but he needed her to know. So he said “I did it to save Riverdale, to save you especially. But I should have known that something was bound to go sideways. I have to take responsibility for that, but just know that I love you, Betty Cooper. Always have and always will. To the end.”
Betty couldn’t help but cry at what he said. She went over to his side, grabbed his hand, and while looking deep into those gorgeous eyes that she fell in love with, says “Jughead Jones, you are literally the best thing to have come into my life. And you and I are exactly what Veronica has called us.” Jughead looks at her with a confused look before asking “What do you mean? What has she called us?” Betty gave him the cutest look and smile, and blushing heavily, before answering “She’s said that we are each other’s soulmates.”
Jughead was left speechless by what Betty said. He thought he was going to choke out some dumb answer but instead, he swallowed down his nerves and said “You know what I’m inclined to agree with her this one time. Do you want to know why?” Betty was so shocked by what he was saying that she could only raise her eyebrows and look at him questioningly. With that, he continues to say “While I was unconscious, I had these dreams. And in these dreams, there were moments in what life could be without me, which made me wonder. I never want to leave you ever again and I want to spend my entire life with you.” Betty leaned in and kissed him on his lips, pouring all the love she has for him into it. They pull apart and while resting their foreheads against each other, she says “And I want the same thing Jughead. Because you have no idea how much I love you and I couldn’t bear to continue my life without you in it. But there is something you need to know Juggie” “What is it?” he asked her. Betty took a shaky breath before answering “They caught the Black Hood. And it turned out that it was my father.”
And at that moment, Jughead’s heart broke for his girlfriend. “Oh my God Betty I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there. God, I’m such an idiot.” “Hey it’s ok, the minute you called, Sheriff Keller was already driving him to the station. But God Juggie, it’s going to be so hard for me and for my mom. I just can’t believe it.” He grabs one of her hands with his uninjured hand before saying “Hey, whatever happens, we’ll get through this together. Ok?” She nodded at him and they kissed each other again, with both of them showing the other how much they mean to each other. And that is what they did.
The day he was discharged, Betty made it her personal mission to be there for him during his physical therapy. The day before his discharge, FP came by and told Jughead that the war between Serpents and Ghoulies was finally over and that the Serpents won the rumble in Pickens Park. Jughead was happy for him and for the Serpents and FP was there with Betty to oversee Jughead’s physical therapy. While he wasn’t at school, Betty came by and helped him stay on track, so he doesn’t fall behind. Once he was fully healed and had his casts removed, and he was able to go back to school, he and Betty never strayed from each other and were always together. And this was noticed by practically everyone in the school, to the point that they were deemed a “power couple”. When the student council elections arrived, Betty and Jughead won by a landslide, with most people deeming them to have all the student's best interests at heart.
To celebrate, Betty and Jughead, along with Archie and Veronica, who were gracious in defeat, went to Pops for milkshakes. Afterward, Jughead surprised Betty by getting a room for them at The Five Seasons for one night. It was a way for them to just be together. And they made the most of it. After three rounds of just pure passion, he asked Betty if she wanted to be his Serpent Queen. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing coming from his lips. She honestly didn’t know if she could love this boy in front of her any more than she does now. She wanted to show him how much she loves him so the next 2 times, they made love. Slow and just the two of them showing the love they have for each other. The morning after, getting ready to leave, both Betty and Jughead were excited for the future ahead of them.