Chapter Text
Jughead wakes up to the sun blinding him on his couch, he slept like shit, and he can tell by how stiff his body is. He checks his phone and sees four missed calls from Betty and two voicemails.
He groans and gives in, he presses play on the oldest one.
He hears a sniffle, and a watery voice belonging to Betty saying, “Juggie, I had to. You know how much I loved; love you. I had to keep something of us. We were too special—please call me back. I don’t want us to end like this. Jug. Please.”
The voicemail ends abruptly, as if she dropped her phone from her hands shaking.
He’d be lying if he said her words didn’t affect him. It was clear she meant to keep those mementos as a good thing, not out of spite.
He hit play on the second one, from early this morning. “Hi Jug. I, uh, just wanted to call and say that, I’m sorry. I know that what we did last night was unfair to you and I respect you too much to hurt you.” She takes a deep breath, “When Archie gets back from Berlin; I’m planning on leaving him. I wanted you to be the first to know.” She sighs, “I shouldn’t have married him in the first place, “ her voice wobbles, “especially not when I was still in love with you. “ She stutters on her inhale, “I love you so much Jughead. You’re it for me and I knew it when you ordered me an Earl Grey in England instead of English Breakfast.” She laughs, “Or when you kissed away my tears when I was homesick. Or when—shit I’m rambling. Just. Call me. Please?”
He’s smiling at the end of her message.
He calls his sister instead of calling Betty, she answers on the third ring, “Jughead, long time no American number, what’s up big brother?”
“Hey JB, you got time for me?”
She laughs, “Always for you.”
Jughead launches into everything that’s happened in the past few days and by the end of it JB starts laughing, “Only you and Betty would fuck each other up so much because you love each other.”
“Thanks for the support there, JB.”
“I mean really. She’s married Jughead. I would have told you to leave well enough alone if you told me what you planned to do.”
“I know. Which is why I didn’t tell you.”
She sighs, “So, do you really think she’s gonna leave him?”
He swallows, “I really do JB, Betty isn’t a liar, you know?”
“Unless you’re her husband.”
“That’s really beside the point Jellybean. Betty and I are old souls who belong together. I know how stupid that sounds but I feel better when I’m with her. A better version of me.”
Jellybean smiles at him, “I know you’re better with her, I’m not blind. Has she ever talked about her doubts about her marriage?”
He thinks back to their emails, her mentions of seeing someone, her hesitation at telling him more. “Never, she’s always kept it separate. We would talk about everything else though.”
“Maybe just be friends for a while. No sleeping together, no kissing, no nothing. Just put the brakes on. If she is serious about ending her marriage, she will.”
He nods, “Sage advice from my annoying little sister.”
Jellybean laughs into the phone, “What can I say Jughead, I’ve got a life time of knowledge.”
Veronica grabs his hand but he disengages from holding it, “I’m gonna call Betty to check in on her. Give me a few minutes, okay?”
She nods, “Take your time Archie.” She walks into the bathroom to get ready, giving him privacy.
He taps his wife’s name on the screen and waits for it to connect. It rings a few times before she answers, “Archie. Hi.”
Her voice is off, like it hasn’t been used in a while. “Hey Betty, how’s New York?”
“It’s good. Getting colder by the day. I’ve been writing a little bit here and there but I got interrupted.”
He scrunches his face, “By what?”
She sighs on the other end, he can see her sitting at her desk, fidgeting with a pen, “An old friend surprised me this week, he said he was moving back.”
Archie’s blood runs cold, “Your friend? A writer friend?”
“How’d you know!” she exclaims brightly.
“I had a hunch,” comes his reply. “When did he get back?”
“Oh a few days ago, we went out to dinner with his agent and his publicist. He’s launching a new series in the states. I’m excited for him.”
Veronica emerges from the bathroom, “Archie, do you want to join me and Kevin for dinner?”
“Is that Veronica?”
“Yeah it is,” he tells her.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I’ll see you in a few days, okay?”
“Right. See you soon. Bye Betty.” He ends the call before he hears her response.
He stares down at his phone, “Bad news?” Veronica asks.
He stays looking at his phone, “He’s moving back.”
“Who?”
“Jughead Jones is moving back to the states.”
Veronica looks at him with her head tilted, “Is this Betty’s ex-boyfriend?”
He nods.
“So it looks like our lives just got easier. With him back in town, Betty will definitely have a reason to leave you soon and we can be together.”
Archie’s head snaps up, “What about your husband?”
Veronica smiles, “Oh he isn’t a problem. I own the company. I just let him think he runs it. I made him sign a pre-nup.”
Archie shakes his head at her and stands up, walking over to were she stands, “Such a brilliant mind.” He leans down to kiss her and pulls away saying, “Should we forgo dinner with Kevin and celebrate?”
“Why Archibald, I thought you would never ask.”
It’s been three days since she last heard from Jughead and she’s beginning to think it’s over. If he had wanted to call her back or even come see her, he would have. She sighs and continues to write a report on Dunder Mifflin’s holdings. Mundanely typing away she decides maybe it’s time to find another place to work at. She’s getting tired of finance writings and it’s not like she even needs to work. Jughead makes more than enough money to support them both. She looks out the window and is ashamed at herself for even thinking that. Archie comes home from Berlin in six days. And she can’t believe her time alone is coming to an end. She thinks of Archie and is dreading seeing him. Especially after she definitely cheated on him. Maybe they can save their marriage. She scoffs aloud at the idea. As if she really wants to even save the marriage.
She gets up from her desk and goes to shower, planning on meeting up with her friend Ethel for lunch later this afternoon. She puts on music that Archie has on his phone, mostly his own songs. He ears his melodic voice telling her he’ll try. She smiles at her college memories with him. They had such a good beginning but she cannot for the life of her remember good times in the past few years of their marriage. Sure, they were happy but there were too many times she wistfully thought of Jughead and his easy going ways, too many nights she got up after Archie had fallen asleep and looked through her memories of Jughead. She remembers the day she told Polly she was getting married.
“Pol, can you calm down, please? You’re suppose to be happy for me,” she tries.
“Betty, I would love to be happy for you. I really would but I can’t support this. You don’t love him.”
“Polly! I love him! I love Archie. So much!”
She can hear Polly’s eyebrows rise through the phone, “Really Betty? I know you love Archie but are you in love with him?”
Betty sighs, “Why are you doing this?”
“Betty, you cannot love him. You’re still in love with Jughead. I know you are. You shouldn’t be doing this. He’ll come home. He said so himself before he left. You can still wait for him.”
Betty shakes her head, “I’m not that kind of girl Polly. I’m not waiting around for love. I’m happy with Archie. We’re compatible enough that it’ll be a good marriage.”
“You’re making a mistake. One day, down the road when Jughead comes home, you’ll see that.”
Polly was right. She had seen Jughead six months after the wedding on the streets of Brooklyn. He was walking on the opposite side of the street and she was in a cab, heading downtown. She watched him walk into their old apartment building until the cab turned the corner. She remembers almost asking the cabbie to turn back before her phone pinged with a message from Archie.
Betty received a call from Jellybean asking to meet her for lunch the next day but she declined, knowing that JB would do anything to get her and her brother back together.
Betty comes back to the present when she finishes her shower and she gets out, grabbing her dressing robe, out of habit when her buzzer goes off.
She goes over to the intercom and presses, “Yes?”
“Betts?”
She doesn’t even let him finish speaking before she hits the enter button.
She goes to the front door and opens it as he finishes climbing the stairs to her apartment.
“Jughead, what are you doing here?”
He looks her up and down and swallows, “This a bad time?”
She steps back into her apartment and lets him in, “Not at all. You’ll just have to watch me get ready.”
He nods and follows her to the bathroom where she begins her simple eye look.
She primes here eyelids and reaches for her eye shadow palette, dipping a brush in a matte light brown and begins her eye shadow, “I have lunch with a friend at 2:30, so I have to leave in about an hour. What brings you here?”
He’s staring at a wedding photo; Archie has his hands around her waist and is standing behind her. She’s looking at the camera a with a shy smile and he’s pressing a kiss to her cheek, Jughead looks up at her in the mirror, “This is a good photo, who took it?’
“Cheryl Blossom.”
Jughead starts laughing, “Oh good old Cheryl. You look nice. The dress isn’t what I thought you would pick.”
She shrugs, “I wasn’t very picky at the time.” She tells him. Then explains, “That made it easier. Plus, Polly was being a horrible maid of honor. She was always saying it didn’t matter what I picked because none of it was right since the groom was wrong and I just started ignoring every thing else she said. I planned our wedding without a lot of help since the only person who really wanted it was Archie’s mom.”
Jughead looks at her with confusion, “Why didn’t they want you to marry him?”
Betty laughs, “Isn’t it obvious, Juggie?”
He stays silent, indicating that it isn’t, “They wanted me to marry you, Jughead Jones.”
He chokes on his on saliva for a moment, “I didn’t come here to talk to you about your wedding. I came here to ask you if you meant it.”
“Meant it?” She wanted him to say it before she jumped to conclusions.
“Are you planning on leaving Archie?”
She’s finishing up her mascara, painting her last few lashes, before she closes the tube and places it on the counter, “Of course I did.”
“I wasn’t sure if you did. I haven’t heard from you in a while.”
Betty nods, “I was giving you your space.”
He changes the subject for a moment, “JB says hello, by the way. I think she screamed for a whole ten minutes when I filled her in on what happened the last week and a half.”
Betty smiles at that, “I miss her, so much. How is she?”
“She’s her usual annoying self. My dad wants you to come to dinner tomorrow night, if you want.”
She nods, “I’d love to see FP. I‘ve missed your family over the years. They were always so kind to me.”
“Is Archie’s family not?”
She weighs her words, “No, they are. It’s just different. Very formal. There’s not a real causal family vibe from his parents. Fred Andrews worked very hard to own his multi-million business all to have his son want to go into investing.”
Jughead nods, “That makes sense. How’s Polly?”
Betty smiles at the thought of her sister, she points to a photograph of her sister and her husband, “Polly and Jason are really good. They’re expecting.”
“Jason?”
“Jason Blossom, Cheryl’s brother. You remember him? We met him at the Gala with the Renoir exhibit, ” she explains.
Jughead nods, “Ah yes. We saw him near the Degas statue that was on loan from the Or’ Say.”
There’s a beat of silence as Betty moves into the closet; Jughead follows her.
She is looking at her clothes before Jughead hands her a few hangers. It’s a pale blue sweater, black skinny jeans, and a collard undershirt without sleeves. She looks at him questioningly.
His head nods to the floor, “With the black Manolo’s I bought you at Harrod’s.”
She starts laughing because, how is he still this good at knowing her. “Why thank you, Juggie.”
He shrugs, “I know what you like to wear to lunch.”
He kisses her forehead before leaving the room so she can change in private. She gets dressed and decides to wear her hair down.
She emerges and Jughead is lounging on her bed, he looks up at smiles, she’s pleased with how normal this all is.
“When Archie get’s back, I’ll have a conversation with him. I think he’ll be receptive to the idea of a divorce. I can’t see him begging me to stay when he has Veronica.”
“Veronica?”
Betty nods, “She works at his company and I’ve seen them together. They have a real chemistry that he and I don’t have.”
“Like how we do?”
She smiles, “Exactly.” She pecks him on the lips. Then freezes, “I’m so sorry. We haven’t had that conversation yet, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
He laughs, “Betts, it’s okay. I trust you. Kiss me whenever you feel like it, okay?”
She lets out a sigh of relief. “Do you want to come to lunch?”
“Who are you meeting?”
“Ethel, you remember her, don’t you?”
He nods, “I do, are you sure you want me there?”
She laughs and reaches for his hand to pull him off the bed, “Of course I do, Juggie.”
They walk side by side because too much in public isn’t her style. He’s thinking of a random song by Joni Mitchell that he used to listen to when he was missing her. The notes filter through his mind, as do the lyrics. He agrees; he really doesn’t know love at all.
If he did, he wouldn’t be here, escorting Betty to lunch as an ex, he would be the adoring husband who talks about how excited they are to try for children. He wouldn’t be walking beside her, hesitating to take her hand. He wouldn’t be wondering why she’s fidgeting with her collar, he would be reassuring her it looks wonderful because he knows how much she hates the word perfect.
A man walks by them, randomly on the street and he gives Betty a once over, Jughead moves closer to her to ward him off.
He’s protective of something he cannot rightly call his own. Not that he ever would, Betty belongs to herself and whom she decides to share herself with is her decision.
She tilts her head to a café up ahead, warning him of their destination and he smirks. It’s one of his favorite places.
Ethel is waiting at a table, engrossed in a book, as usual.
Betty walks over to the table and sits down, “Ethel, you don’t mind if Juggie joins us do you?”
Without looking up, “Sure Betty, if Jughead appears, he can join us.”
Betty smiles at him and motions for him to sit.
The chair scraping across the tile alerts Ethel to his actual presence, “No, there’s no way! You’re a liar Jughead Jones. You told me you were never coming back to Brooklyn so long as Betty was Betty Andrews!”
He scratches his neck and feels Betty’s eyes on him, “That was a long time ago Ethel, I visit Brooklyn all the time. You know this. I see you almost every time I come home.”
Ethel laughs as Betty says, “What? You’ve been back and didn’t tell me?”
He pick up a menu and starts looking at it, “I thought you were happily married. I didn’t think you would want to see me. Much less have me meet your husband.”
Ethel shakes her head, “That’s the funny thing though, you and Archie would really hit it off. Clearly you both have great taste.”
Betty laughs as he rolls his eyes, “Thanks Ethel.”
Lunch continues much the same over the course of three hours. Betty’s phone pings, as they’re all laughing, and its s text from Archie, Boarding now. See you soon.”
She sighs and pockets her phone.
Jughead is looking at her, “Everything okay?”
She smiles, “Just a flight info text. Nothing more.”
Jughead freezes. Archie’s on his way back. He shouldn’t be here.
Ethel looks like a deer caught in the headlights.
Betty places her hand on Jughead’s arm, “The flight is seven hours. He doesn’t land till later tonight. We have some time left. Even if he is, apparently early.”
He shakes his head, “I should really go though. I have writing to get done. “
Ethel deflates as Betty’s spine straightens.
Betty’s phone goes off again. She pulls it out and sees her mother’s name on the screen. She bites her lip, knowing she has to take the call.
“Mom, can I call you back? I’m busy.”
“Betty. Why did your father have a list of New York divorce lawyers on his laptop?”
Right to the point, as usual, with Alice Cooper.
Betty looks at Jughead as she tells her mother, “Because, I’m divorcing Archie. I don’t love him and I’m ready to leave him.”
Her mother sighs, “Has Jughead finally come back home to Brooklyn?”
Betty looks at her plate of pasta primavera confused, “Yeah, he has, how’d you know?”
“Jellybean and I snapchat. She’s my best friend on the app, didn’t you know?”
Betty rolls her eyes, “Only you would be best friends on snapchat with my ex-boyfriend’s sister. Bye mom.”
“Love you Betty. Tell Jughead to call his father!”
The call ends and Betty is speechless. Episodes of the Twilight Zone have made more sense than that phone call. “Jug, my mom says to call your dad.”
“Good one, Betts.”
The pair says their goodbyes to Ethel, leaving the casual lunch in mostly good spirits. They walk back to her apartment in relative silence.
“What did your mom really want?”
“Oh! She said to tell you to call your dad, I wasn’t kidding about that and that she knew everything from JB’s snaps.”
Jughead is silent for a few beats, “I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that both our families have been this close all these years or that,” he pauses, “nope. That one is taking the cake right now.”
Betty laughs at him and takes his hand to pull him close and place a kiss on his cheek. She stops outside her apartment and looks at him.
“Out with it then,” he tells her.
“I need to sort a few things out with Archie tonight. I can’t have you up there again if I’m going to look at him and tell him I’m leaving him. Especially when I’m leaving him for my ex-boyfriend I never stopped loving.”
Jughead smiles at her and pulls her into his embrace, “You’re too good for this world Betty Cooper.”
She mumbles into his chest, “It’s Andrews.”
Hi kisses the top of her head, “Not for much longer, then you’ll be Jones.”
Betty laughs and cannot remember how she functioned without having this man in her life.
“How about we get a cup of coffee at Cousin’s and sit for a while, I’m not ready to leave you,” he suggests.
“I’d love to.”
They walk the few blocks to get to the bakery and they sit in comfortable silence until Betty asks, “Why did you stop replying to my emails?”
He takes a sip of his coffee and looks into the mug, hoping it has the answers he’s looking for, “I wanted more than a few emails a week. Plus, seeing your automatic signature of ‘Betty Andrews’ really screwed with my head. I wanted so badly to be home with you.” He looks up at her, “I guess I thought we would be together when the timing was right. I didn’t know you would run off and get married when I was gone. I thought at the very least we would be apart for a year. Your engagement really hurt me but it was the wedding that really twisted the knife.”
She glances away from him tears in her eyes, “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone.”
Jughead nods, “You can trust me.”
“Promise me you wont think I’m horrible when I tell you this.”
“Never Betts,” he assures her.
She takes a deep breath; “I was pregnant when Archie and I got married, about six weeks along. I was so; I don’t know how to describe it. It’s not that I wouldn’t have loved the child but it. Jughead. It wasn’t yours. That was the problem. So when I had my miscarriage for natural reasons, I was relieved. Relieved because I wouldn’t be tied to Archie my whole life. Shortly after that, I got the IUD and I’ve only regretted having that put in once.”
“Did it hurt or something?”
Betty nods, “It did but that’s not it. Jughead, I want your child. I’m selfish and
I wished that night we were together last week that I didn’t have it. Because then I would always have something of yours.”
Jughead is silent for a moment. He thinks about it; coming home to a woman he loves, belly swelled with proof of their love for each other. He imagines walking up to her, pressing a kiss to her cheek then leaning down to kiss her stomach. Placing his hand against her skin and looking her in the eyes and their child kicks his hand.
Betty speaks, “See, I told you, it’s horrible.” Taking his silence for disgust or horror.
He looks directly into her eyes, “This entire situation is filled with things that are horrible but I just got to imagine you pregnant with our child and looking radiant, trust me. It’s not horrible.”
Betty sighs, “Thank you.”
“I’m sure it’s horrible for Archie to have been competing with another man his entire marriage but not to me, you could never be horrible.”
Archie is taking his bag from the overhead in first class and gets Veronica’s down for her, always the gentleman.
“I’m sad to be home Archie, I won’t see you everyday for a while,” Veronica says.
“I’m talking to Betty tonight. It might be sooner than you think, Ronnie.”
They move off the plane and into the customs section of the airport, separating for the time being.
Archie watches Veronica at her agent and imagines a life with her, filled with Galas, charity events and the like. He can’t say he hates the idea of it. But then there’s his quiet life with Betty, where he always feels something missing.
He shuffles into the town car with Kevin and Veronica, mostly silent, save for a few comments made by the other passengers.
They pull into Kevin’s street first and he’s out within a second or so just o see his own bed. Archie completely gets that.
“Brooklyn, 5th and Union,” Veronica tells the driver.
She looks to him to question her, he doesn’t.
They pull into his neighborhood a while later; he unlaces his fingers with hers, something he didn’t even know he did, and exists the car.
He’s getting his luggage into the building when he hears Ronnie’s voice exclaim, “See you soon Archikins, I’m so happy we closed the account!”
He nods at her and moves into the interior of the building. Climbing the few sets of stairs leading to his home. He opens the door to a scene he would have never expected.
Betty is lounging in workout leggings, the scent of fresh rolls wafts through the air, he sees she’s watching an old movie, might even be Sabrina by the look of it.
“Betty? I’m home!”
She whips her head over to the sound of his voice and he sees tear streaks on her cheeks, “Are you okay, Betty?”
She nods, her voice breaks on the first words, “Of course, I’m so happy you’re home.”
Archie nods and moves into the bedroom to put his suitcase in the closet. He comes back into the living room, watching her with guarded eyes.
“Betty?” He says.
She looks away from the bookshelf, her husband wants her attention, “Yeah?”
“Do you want to talk now or later?”
She swallows, “Now Arch, I think it would be best.”
He nods and sits opposite of her, “I think we need counseling.”
Betty laughs at him, “Oh Archie, counseling cannot fix that we aren’t in love with each other.”
There are a few moments of silence. Archie absorbs her words. He thinks of the last few months, even the years of their marriage; she’s right.
“And since we aren’t in love with each other..?” he asks.
“We get divorced. I don’t think it will get messy but we should be with who we want to be with, you know?”
Betty states it so matter-of-factly he’s surprised he didn’t think of it sooner. Veronica was getting a divorce; naturally Archie would need to get one too.
He looks at her, “Whom do you want to be with?”
He looks at her as her eyes move away form him and onto the bookshelf, “Oh yes, my mistake. Jughead Jones. The writer dude to keep appearing everywhere I look, it seems.”
Betty looks at him as if he’s struck her, “What? Did you think I didn’t know?”
She shakes her head.
He scoffs, “Alice got drunk one year and kept talking about him, said it was the happiest she had ever seen you, including our wedding day. And that made me feel so great, Betty. I’m sure you can imagine.”
She cringes, ”So, yes, I know. And I’m not even mad I don’t think. We were stupid and we thought we knew everything. “
She nods at him, “Are you going to Veronica?”
He looks away from her, unable to meet her stare, “Yeah.”
“I’m happy you’ve found someone who makes you feel the way Jughead makes me feel.”
He looks back at her, expecting to see hatred or contempt in her eye, but all he finds is vulnerability and honesty. Classic Betty.
He could never stay mad at her.
“When did you know?”
She tilts her head, confused, “Hmm?”
“When did you know you loved him more than me?”
He watches her take a deep breath, she’s deciding between the truth and a lie, he can tell.
Her hands keeps flinching, a tell tale sign of her real emotions.
“Jughead wasn’t like you. He was never easygoing. Everything was bickering and heated discussions. Jughead was raw emotion. He never said he wanted kids, but I knew he was scared of being a bad dad rather than not wanting them.. He never said he loved me just to say it; there was always a purpose behind it. It never lost it’s meaning.” She glances out the window, “He never asked me to be more than I am. He loved, loves, me like this. He told me one day,” she chuckles.
“One day he said to me ‘Betty, you are my silver lining, whatever has happened in my past; I did something to deserve you, even though I know I don’t.”
She smiles, “Jughead Jones made me feel alive and more at home than my own sister. He became a part of me in a way I never knew I needed.”
Archie nods, compelled by her story, “And?”
Betty looks at him then, “And he made me feel like I was his queen but in a way that made me his absolute equal.”
“And I didn’t?”
She shakes her head, “No, Archie. You didn’t.”
Archie is silent.
“I married you because I thought that Jughead would move on from me. I was the one who knew he would out grow me. It was wrong of me, and I am so sorry for that. You deserve to marry someone who wants to marry you.”
Archie looks into her eyes, “I think it’s clear what happened.” He waits, “I love you Betty, and you love me but we aren’t in love with each other. And we haven’t been.”
She nods, “Exactly Arch, exactly!”
“We should be with the people who make us better, not the person that keeps us the same. “
Betty smiles at him, “Thank you.”
He stands from the chair he sat in earlier, “I’m going to start packing, okay?”
She looks at him, “I’ll start that too.”
“You don’t want the apartment?”
Betty scoffs, “Jughead’s apartment is so much nicer than this one. And I’m pretty sure Veronica’s is as well.”
Archie flushes, “See? So we should just sell this apartment and call it good.”
“Good? Betty you own this place.”
She nods, “Yes I do but I think I cheated on you first so, please, let’s split.”
Archie laughs, “Nope. Betty, seriously, at least let’s do a 30/70 split”
He knows she can tell he isn’t giving up, “Fine, split mentioned by A. Andrews has been accepted.”
Betty is packing a bag with her things to take to Jughead’s and Archie is doing the same. She looks up at him and sees him handing her a sweater, “What is it about Veronica?”
He freezes, “I don’t—“
“I just want to know more about her. I love you Archie. You’re still my friend. So, as a friend, tell me about her.”
Archie smiles, “Veronica is amazing. She’s got this charisma that makes you want to be around her. She has this way of knowing exactly what you need before you do.”
Betty nods, encouraging him to go on.
“When I’m with her, I feel like I can do anything. She’s just someone who makes me feel alive, and driven. She’s great.”
Betty smiles, “I’m happy you found her, Archie. I really am.”
She finishes packing her bag, goes to grab her book off the bookshelf and looks over to Archie standing in the kitchen, getting a bottle of water, “We’ll be okay, wont we Archie?”
“Of course we will Betty.”
With that final thought she exits the apartment and sets off to her favorite place in Brooklyn.
Jughead’s finishing a chapter on his new book, he’s typing with renewed passion, suddenly inspired with the new developments in his life. He hears someone struggling with the lock, which means it’s his sister or Betty. He’s really hoping it’s the latter; he doesn’t want to see JB right now.
He goes to the door as it opens at is met with a blonde bombshell holding a bag on her shoulder. Eyes filled with hope, cheeks flushed from the walk up the stairs, and hesitation teeming through her.
“Betts?”
“Hi Jug, I’m moving in, is that okay?”
He stares at her, “I wish you never moved out.”
He takes her bag off her shoulder and takes it into their bedroom; he can hear her following behind him.
He looks at her when he sets down the bag, “Is this real?”
Betty smiles at him and holds up her left hand, it’s blank.
“It’s real Jughead, I’m all yours.”
He walks over to her and picks her up in his arms and spins around with her, “I finally have you back, after three years, I can finally have Betty Cooper all to myself.”
She’s laughing, a beautiful noise, filled with such happiness.
He sets her down and hold her face between his hands, “When?”
“We have a meeting with the lawyer tomorrow, since it’s mutual and we just want each other to be happy, we should have our divorce in two months.”
He kisses her; with every amount of love his has in his cells, just so he can convey how much he loves her.
“I’ve only been this happy once before.”
“When?” She asks.
“When I realized I loved you, that moment is the only moment that comes close to this feeling.”
She laughs, “And when did you realize that?”
He steps away from her, allowing her to begin unpacking, “It was a day like any other one, and you were putting on mascara while I laid in bed, scrolling through my phone, and you said something about me not being able to do that when we have children. My fingers stopped moving and I looked up to you in the bathroom, you said it so casually that we had a future; that you thought about a future with me, of all people. That’s when I knew.”
Betty smiles at him and puts a few things away in her drawers, “I knew I loved you when you went to your parent’s house for a few hours and rushed back to me when I thought something was wrong with me but I just had really bad diarrhea.”
Jughead laughs, “That’s it, that’s the moment? Can it be a different moment?”
She smiles, “Nope.”
Some time later, she’s relaxing in her, newly reclaimed, bath when he comes in with a glass of red wine, “A Malbec for my lady.”
He hands it to her and she smiles up at him, “You can join me if you’d like, Jug.”
He shakes his head, “I have a few more paragraphs to finish up for tonight and you need to let your back muscles relax, do you want me to put of some music for you?”
She nods, “Chopin, please?”
She watches him move to her phone, unlock it and play her Spotify, soothing piano fills their bathroom, “Enjoy Betty.”
Her eyes close to truly soak in the moment, she’s happy. Happier than she has been in years and it’s entirely from Jughead returning to Brooklyn all those months ago. She opens her eyes and they land on her engagement ring. It’s simple; nothing like the statement ring Archie gave her, no. Jughead proposed two months after their divorce finalized, Veronica and Archie married three weeks later. No one was surprised.
Her new ring was a simple opal ring surrounded with tiny diamonds, she couldn’t think of a better ring to sit on her hand for the rest of her life. She thinks back to when Jughead proposed and almost tears up.
It had been a day like any other; she came home from work and found Jughead typing away at the breakfast nook, he favorite place to work.
He looked up at her, “I’ve got one page left and then I’m yours for the evening, okay?”
She smiled at him and went to change into a different outfit, there was a huge party that night for Polly and Jason, expecting again.
Betty was in her dressing robe when he entered the room, he stood in the doorway, watching her do her make up, she had an odd sense of déjà vu, and “You look beautiful.”
She turned her eyes away from her eyelids in the mirror and looked at him, “Thank you handsome, do you want to shower and then I can do my hair while you’re in and we can talk about our days?”
He nodded and began to shred his clothing.
He was in the shower and Betty kept talking about how happy she was for Archie and Veronica, “I’m just so pleased we are all in such good places, you know? They’re married now Jughead! Can you believe it? It’s like, you coming home was the best thing that ever happened for them.”
Jughead could feel himself getting more and more envious over Archie, yet again, for always taking what he wanted without any regard for those around him. Jughead slammed the water off in the shower, threw a towel around his waist and stalked over to the closet.
“Jug? What’s wrong?”
She didn’t get a reply because he was too busy grabbing something from the closet, “Please Jughead, I truly am happy for them! Archie is just a friend now! I love you!”
He emerged from the closet shaking his head, “I know you do Betty, which is why I need to do this.”
She looked at him and stepped away from the closet entrance, “What are you talking about?”
He chuckled to himself, “Betty, I have loved you since I was twenty one. There were days where I would wake up and think I dreamt you into reality. You are this ethereal being who deigns to walk among common people. I love your family, I have learned to love your parents, and I have even grown to love Archie Fucking Andrews who stole you away from me. But I cannot live another minute without you knowing that I want you to be the mother of my children. You are all I dream about. Betty Cooper, I want to marry you and if you want the same thing, I will happily give you this ring.”
He didn’t get down on one knee, he didn’t ask her to marry him; he gave her a choice. Something that not many people did for her. Betty watched as he put a box down on the bathroom counter, “I don’t need an answer right now, but I couldn’t wait any longer to ask you.”
Of course she broke down crying and thanked the gods for primer when her make up didn’t smudge, she turned to him and said, “I’m not putting it on myself, Jughead. Honestly, do I have to do everything?”
He laughed through his tears and kissed her, “Never Betts, never.”
He took the ring and placed it on her hand, which is where the beautiful gem rested now.
Polly and Jason were overjoyed when they showed up to the party engaged, they were so happy they didn’t even notice that the attention had been taken off on their new baby.
She sighed happily and decided she had soaked long enough, standing up and stepping out of the bath, she reached over to stop the music, signaling she was finished.
Moments later Jughead appeared, ready for their evening activity of Netflix or Hulu, depending on the mood. She figured now was a good of time as any.
She changed into her nightclothes and settled into the couch before he came over and did the same.
Her phone vibrated with a text from her mom asking about holiday plans. She could wait another few hours for a response.
“Jughead?”
He was picking their show of the evening, “Hmm?”
She placed her hand over his on the controller, “I want kids.”
He looked at her, “I do too Betty, we’ve talked about this.”
She tilted her head, “Juggie, I went to the doctor today and I removed my IUD.”
He stared at her, expression blank, “You what?”
“I got my I—‘
“I heard you Betty, don’t you think you should have talked to me about this?”
She broke eye contact fist, “I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.”
She hears him sigh rather than sees it, “You always know how to ruin my surprises.”
She looks up at him, “What?”
“I had this entire weekend planned out, you know? I was going to have this long conversation with you about marriage and children and convince you we were ready, but as usual, you beat me to the punch.”
She smiles, “We can still have the conversation, you can still surprise me!”
He laughs, “Trust me, I know I can.”
Christmas comes slowly; she’s ready to be at her parent’s house, away from work, ready to relax. She and Jughead get off the train and are greeted by her parents, “Betty!”
She hugs her mom and sees Jughead being embraced by her dad, “Don’t worry, we took care of it.”
She tilts her head, “Took care of what dad?”
Jughead looks at her, “My wifi needs, I didn’t know what their bandwidth speed was and asked if they could upgrade on my dime since I need to work this weekend.”
She rolls her eyes, “Right. Bandwidth. How could I forget.”
They all enter the Cooper household as a picturesque foursome, naturally having Jughead and Betty in her old room was entirely acceptable, especially now that she’s a woman married.
Jughead turned to her as he places their luggage on the floor and smiled, “Do you remember the last time we were here?”
She smiles at the memory.
It was Christmas and Jughead snuck into her room when Santa was supposed to be arriving and she told him story after story about her childhood, he listened and loved every moment of it, he told her he couldn’t wait to make those memories for their children.
She nods, “I do. I missed you over these last Christmases; it hasn’t been the same. Even Jason missed you.”
Jughead laughs aloud at that, “Well, he’s going to be sick of me, I plan on being around for every Christmas from here on out.”
She places her arms around his neck and kisses him, “When does your family arrive?”
“Tomorrow afternoon, then we are all together for five days.”
He smiles, “You’re going to love my present. “
It’s a few hours later and they’re all watching The Holiday, much to Jughead’s dismay, and drinking spiked hot cocoa.
There’s a knock at the door and Hal goes to answer it, a booming, “Finally!” fills the house, followed by laughter and greetings.
They all get up to see that FP and Gladys have arrived, Alice welcoming them, “It’s been entirely too long since we last spoke Gladys!”
The other woman chuckles, “Really Alice, our weekly conversations weren’t enough over the years?”
Betty looks at them with a cautious look, “Weekly conversations?”
Alice laughs, “Oh Betty, you had to have known I talked to Gladys the entire time you two weren’t together! We became such close friends—Your father and FP go on a camping trip every few months!”
Jughead startles, “I’m sorry, but what the actual fuck? You all still talked even though we weren’t together?”
FP nods, “Of course we did son, we all knew you two would end up together, it seemed pointless to end our friendships or pause them. We like each other, is that such a bad thing?”
Betty shakes her head, “It is when your parents hide things from you and expect you to be okay with it. I’m going for a walk.”
Jughead watches her move toward the front door between the other adults and soon follows suit, “I’m going with her.”
Gladys places a hand on his shoulder, “Honestly Jug, we didn’t mean to hurt you two, we thought it would be best.”
“You thought lying to your adult children about speaking to one another was best? Not the best idea you’ve all had, I’m sure,” He walks out the door, grabbing an extra scarf for Betty.
He catches up with her easily enough and walks beside her.
“I always wondered why my parents never got along with Fred and Mary after a while. I guess its because they were spending so much time with your parents.”
He shakes his head, “I asked all of them if that knew anything about you. They lied to me. Alice had to have talked about you. I’m so annoyed.”
She makes a noise in agreement.
“They know how to ruin a perfect night,” he says after a few blocks of silence.
“Perfect? We were just watching a movie.”
“Every night is perfect night with you,” he tells her.
“You are such a sap!”
They walk quietly back to the house, relaxed and unhurried.
Betty heads up the stairs when she realizes everyone else is in bed, and lets Jughead hand their coats.
She’s perched on the edge of the bed when he joins her, “Ready for bed?”
She nods, “I need to tell you something.”
He sits next to her, “Of course Betts, I’m listening.”
She inhales, “I know we’ve been planning this wedding to be lavish and extravagant but I don’t want that. Especially not when I have news.”
He furrows his brow, “News?”
“Juggie, I know we’ve wanted this for a while but I need to tell you that our patience has finally paid off.” She pauses, “I’m pregnant.”
He looks into her eyes, searching for lies or something else, “Truly?”
She smiles, “I took five tests and all of them were positive, I made an appointment for January 3rd when we get back home.”
He kisses her, “I’ve never been happier,” he tells her after he breaks the kiss.
“What was the other thing you wanted?”
She tilts her head, “I thought we could get married, now. Like this week now.”
His eyes almost pop out of his skull, “But we have a whole wedding almost planned in six months.”
“I will be huge by then, Jug. I want to marry while I don’t look like a beached whale.”
He laughs at her, “When do you want to get married?”
“Cheryl is coming tomorrow and I thought since we are all here we could do it the next morning. I packed a dress and a suit for you. Please don’t be mad.”
“Mad? Why would I be mad?”
She sighs, “Archie always hated my surprises, it’s why I stopped doing them for birthdays and anniversaries.”
“Betts, I love your surprises, I am so fucking excited to marry you that I don’t care when or where it happens.”
She smiles and reaches forward to hug him, to make sure he’s still really here.
He breaks the embrace, “Come on Betts, time for bed. We have a lot of work to do in the morning.”
Betty chuckles softly and moves from the bed to change into her nightclothes, “I love you Juggie.”
“I love you too Betts, “ he tells her as he leaves the room to brush his teeth.
The next morning they are both roused by the scent of bacon and a shrill voice announcing her arrival.
Jughead groans, “Must she always make an entrance, it’s 7:30, I thought she wasn’t getting here til tonight?”
Betty snuggles deeper into his chest, “I don’t know Jug, but I’m freezing. Can we just stay here for a little bi—“
“Betty Cooper!” The door flies open and reveals Cheryl in all her glory; arms crossed and eyes a flame.
Betty lifts her head from Jughead’s embrace and looks over his shoulder, “Cheryl!”
“Are you getting out of bed or do I get to join our little spooning session or is it a forking session and I interrupted?”
Jughead turns over and looks at her, “I know better than to fork in Alice Cooper’s home.”
Betty gets out of bed, and goes to hug her, “I miss you. LA is too far, come back to the East Coast.”
Cheryl laughs, “Oh Betty, I got use to the sunshine, I don’t think I can leave it.”
Betty shakes her head, “So why are you early?”
A mischievous grin graces her features, “Well, I got your text about the wedding being on and I couldn’t wait another minute to see you both together again. So I got my private jet and came straight here. We have so much to get done!”
Betty lets nervousness creep into her body, “Cheryl, can I just let you control this and I do nothing? I trust you so much, I know you’re going to do an amazing job.”
Cheryl sighs, “Betty, Betty, Betty, as if I don’t already have everything on retainer just in case this moment ever came. I’ve had the Jones wedding planned since I met up with you in London.”
Betty relaxes and wonders how she got this lucky, “Thanks Cher. I’m happy you’re my sister in law.”
Cheryl pulls her in for a quick hug then releases her, “I must be off, I have a wedding to put together!”
“Does she sleep?” Jughead asks.
Betty laughs and falls back into bed, “Cheryl doesn’t know how to not be 150% of herself at all times. You know this.”
“Betts, I think I blocked out a lot of time but I actually don’t remember meeting her in London?”
Betty shifts to face him on the bed, “That’s because you didn’t. She was in London with her family and you were super busy with work. I met her at the Savoy by myself.”
She enters the hotel and remembers hearing an overexcited, “Betty Fucking Cooper!!”
Betty turns toward the voice and smiles, a redheaded girl is walking at her with such excitement, “Cheryl!”
They embrace and are led directly into the tearoom for afternoon tea, “Betty this tea is just the most, the absolute most! You must have had an afternoon tea before, right?”
She chuckles, “I have, although nothing this extravagant. This must have cost a fortune!”
Cheryl shrugs, “I wouldn’t know, I bill the room for everything. Daddy is taking care of everything, as usual.”
Betty nods and sips her tea, rose garden today; earl grey is saved for quiet evenings with Jughead.
“So Betty, tell me everything! Are you dating an English lad? Have you gotten pissed?”
She laughs at Cheryl’s attempt on being English, “I’ve done one of those things. I got really drunk a few weeks ago and was almost caught drinking on the tube. Such a fun night. I was out with—“
“The boy I need to know everything about?”
Cheryl has her signature look on her face, “Tell me Betty, you know I need to know.”
“He’s an author. A struggling one but Cheryl, I’ve read his stuff and he just needs a shot with a publishing house that will actually take his work. He’s brilliant.”
“And?”
“The sex is amazing. Truly mind blowing. He’s American and lives in Brooklyn. I met him walking on the street about a month ago. I’ve been inseparable from him ever since. He makes me feel like I can write for any paper in the world. We have such chemistry.”
She tilts her head, “Is it like that with Archie?”
Betty looks at Cheryl, “I don’t know but I know I never felt this with Archie. Ever. Jughead is just. God. There is something about him that makes me feel like I’m on fire, Cher. His soul, that he likes to call as black as his coffee, is so beautiful. He loves his family. He is so close with his sister. His parents went through such a rough patch when he was younger but they overcame it.”
Cheryl smiles, “My, my, my, I never thought I would see the day where Betty said more than ‘he’s lovely’ about a boy.”
Betty flushes, “Is it that obvious?”
“That you’re in love with him?”
She nods.
“Absolutely.”
She sighs, “We’re going on a weekend to New York next week, since I’ve never been and he has some business to do with his publisher, so maybe it’ll be good for us to get out of our little bubble and come back to reality.”
“Betty. It isn’t a bad thing that you love him. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t fooling yourself into being over Archie.”
“Over Archie?”
“Come on Betty, you deserve better than Archie Andrews, and you know it. This Jughead sounds like the real deal. “
Betty smiles, “I think he is Cheryl. I really do.”
Cheryl flips her hair, “Now that we’ve talked about your international love life, let’s get back to important things like Jason and Polly.”
Betty remembers leaving that tea with such a big smile and coming home to Jughead wanting to make love to him instead of just having sex, which is exactly what she did.
“I remember that night. That was a particularly wonderful night in for us,” Jughead tells her.
She leans up and kisses his nose, “Come on, we have a wedding to throw together!”
It’s a few days later, Betty is happily holding hands with her, dare she think it, husband. It’s been a whirlwind of happiness and heart eyes. She didn’t know it was possible to be like this; to have a wedding be such a joyous occasion. The last time she married, it felt like everyone had been faking their smiles and perhaps they were. Jughead leaned over to kiss her head, she felt herself relax even more into his embrace on the couch.
“Betty, can you help me in the kitchen?”
She sighs and gets off her place with Jughead to help her mother, “What’s up?”
“Can you chop the vegetables for dinner tonight and ask Jughead to help your father with the grilling? You know how he can get distracted.”
Betty smiles and gets out a cutting board. She grabs the zucchini, onion and carrots that are going in her mom’s meal.
She looks up to see Jughead coming in the kitchen with a small smiles on his lips, she can imagine he’s thinking of what their life will be like in a few months, years even. She gets a thrill of excitement in her system at the thought.
“Can you help my dad with grilling? Mom wants you to keep an eye on him,” she tells him.
He nods, “Of course.” He walks behind her and embraces her under her arms that are methodically chopping vegetables, caressing her barely there bump. He presses a kiss to her cheek with a quiet, “Love you.”
She smiles and refocuses on her task at hand instead of letting her mind wander.
He mom comes over, “So not that we all aren’t shrilled about you two getting married, what was the rush?”
Betty shrugs, “Everyone was here, the timing felt right, you know?”
Alice lets the lie slide and stoically nods her head, “The zucchini is too thick, thinner slices, Betty.”
Jughead exits the house and sees Hal struggling to even light the barbeque, “Need a hand?” he asks around a laugh.
Hal looks up at him with relief, “Please.”
Jughead nods and goes over to it, lighting it within seconds, “Let’s let this heat up and have us a beer, Jug.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Hal pulls two Stella’s out of a cooler and hands one to Jughead. “To the new addition to the family.”
Jughead pauses, while Hal laughs, “You thought we wouldn’t put it together, did you?”
He swallows, “Mr. Cooper, you know how much—“
Hal laughs, “We aren’t mad Jughead. The timing was too perfect. Plus Alice and I have been waiting for you two to surprise us with a new baby for a while now. “
Jughead lets out a sigh of relief, “I’m happy to hear that.”
“When is she due?”
Jughead shrugs, “We have our first appointment on the 3rd when we get back to the city.”
“What are you hoping for?”
Jughead smiles and looks at Hal, “Healthy.”
Hal laughs, “Good answer.” He slaps him on the back and says, “Lets get some grilling done.”
And that’s the end of that conversation.
Betty lays down next to Jughead after dinner and dessert are long over, smiling.
He turns over to face her, “They know.”
Her brow furrows, “Who knows what?”
“Your parents know you’re pregnant.”
Panic seeps into her body and it must show on her face because Jughead is saying, “Betty, they’re happy for us. Hal gave me the slap on the back and said that they’ve been waiting for us to bring home a baby for a while, apparently.”
She smiles shakily, “They’re really happy for us?”
Jughead surges forward to kiss her, “I promise, they are both so happy for us.”
They’re on the train back to the city and Betty get’s a text from Polly, I told you so.
Betty laughs, shows Jughead the message, “She’s right. She did tell you so.”
He leans over and kisses her cheek while Betty smirks, “I knew she would be. I wanted her to be right.”