The next morning...
Betty Pov:
I hadn't slept a wink the night before, waiting for Jug to return home. I didn't even care if he was furious or heartbroken or sympathetic. I just wanted to know if he was safe.
But my phone never rang once.
I knew he had come home at some point, bringing Lola back to the comfort and safety of our bed. His footsteps echoed clearly through the hallways, as he passed by the kids' bedroom door, and back down and out the door again. I had brought Trinity home from our firefly-catching, and I read to her since she woke up again while so was ticking her in. Jug brought Lola home from whatever they did, but I stayed, and he decided it would be better if he didn't.
I couldn't even begin to fathom how hurt he must've felt at that moment. I had kept a life-altering secret from him, one that he well-deserved to be informed of. Of course, I chose to be selfish, to spare my own feelings. That only led us to both of us sinking. Nobody's feelings had been spared.
I might've sobbed and hurt myself a few months ago, but Jug had made me stronger. My insides turned and burned, the guilt writhing me spitting into a roaring fire. The pain wouldn't subside for the foreseeable future, but I could handle it at that point.
Jug. If it weren't for him, I would not be where I was that day. I couldn't ever have been as happy as I had been before. He loved me. I reciprocated. I was sure he didn't feel that way after what happened.
Trinity slept in the bed with Lola and I, both snuggled against me as I strained to control my emotions and my breathing. I had to be strong for them and for Jug, if not for myself.
Around 7 a.m., my phone finally rang.
I gasped aloud, shooting up from the suffocating position between the girls as my arm flashed to grab my phone. My waterline brimmed with hopeful teardrops as I flipped the phone over to read the name.
Archie Andrews.
Damnit. DAMNIT, Jughead!!
A groan escaped my lips effortlessly and without thought as I clicked accept. "Archie? It's 7 a.m. What's up?", I asked nonchalantly.
"Betty, I'm at the sheriff's station. It's- You should just come.", he blurted, whizzing through every syllable.
"Woah woah, slow down. What's going on?", I asked frantically. Before I got a response, the call fell, leaving me bewildered and frightful.
I bolted out of bed, calling Cheryl as I hurriedly got dressed, brushing my teeth and brushing my makeup aside. I had no time to make myself look presentable, considering the inflection that was indicated in his voice. My hair was tugged into a messy bun in an overwrought manner as I stumbled down the stairs, Cheryl calmly opening my front door with the spare key I granted her as I pushed past her.
"I'll watch the girls, Betty! Girls...", she yelled as I ran to my car, murmuring the last part to herself worriedly.
I'm sure she knew what was occurring.
I broke several speed limits as I raced down the road, confident that I knew who or what the cause of Archie's call was, and it compelled anxiety to take refuge once more in my mind and my stomach, causing me to seemingly sink into the quicksand that we call emotions.
I burst into the station, my cheeks wet from the tears I allowed myself to shed on the way there. The red-headed man spun around at the audible stomp of my sneakers. "Betty! Hi- Um, I-I got a call early this morning. I already talked-".
"Cut the crap, Archie. Where is he?", I demanded.
The air froze as he pointed down a corridor behind him, confirming what I'd feared.
I nodded a wordless, appreciative nod before I hastened down the hall, bumping into several officers whom, after observing my state, pointed towards a specific room.
My hands shoved the door open, slamming into the wall behind it. I cringed at the audible cracking of the wall, which also caused a certain dark-haired man's head to rise. The depth of the message in his eyes morphed from relieved and joyous to enraged, rightfully so.
Though, in that particular moment, I had every right to reciprocate that incandescence.
"Jughead...", I stated, voice cracking as my last attempt to keep my cool visibly began to falter. "What the hell are you doing here at 7 in the fucking morning?".
What was he doing there? 🤔
