The Real Riverdale High: Betty and Jughead [9]

Betty hugged her knees, pulling her hat down her head just a bit.
They were on the rock wall outside Veronica's house. It was FREEZING. Betty shivered and Jughead looked up.
"What's wrong?" he asked her, turning so that he had a leg on either side of the wall. Betty followed suit and rubbed her arms with mitten-clad hands.
"Nothing," she beamed. "Just cold." Jughead took this as a prompt and wrapped her into his arms, engulfing her into an embrace. She hugged back and after a long minute they parted, Jughead's hands sliding down to meet hers.
"Feel all warm inside?" he asked her. She grinned.
"I'm with you, aren't I?"
***
BETTY
Betty clasped her hands in front of herself, looking down at her feet. This was odd. She wasn't a shy person.
"Goodbye," she half-whispered. As soon as she said it, she rolled her eyes at how weak she had sounded. She cleared her throat. "Goodbye," she said, a little more firmly.
"Betty, I'll see you later!" Jughead laughed. This prompted a giggle from her as well.
He always makes me laugh...
Jug took her hand and raised it in front of her face, entertwining her fingers with his.
"I'll see you later," he told her seriously. She smiled.
"I know."
He grinned at her and brought his other hand down to hers. He lifted it up slowly, watching it as he did so.
"Goodbye," he told her.
Her smile faltered. "'Bye."
He leaned down and whispered that word into her ear again.
"Goodbye."
She responded by wrapping her arms tightly around him.
"'Bye." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
Jughead grinned, hopping into the car and waving at her. "Goodbye, Betty! I'll see you tomorrow!"
***
"Who was that?" his dad asked him.
"Betty," Jughead answered, looking out the window and watching her wave until she was a speck in the distance.
"I don't know a Betty."
"Ha, ha, Dad," Jughead said, rolling his eyes. "Betty Cooper." His dad turned around sharply.
"Are you kidding?!" Jughead stared. "Betty Cooper...you and her?"
"She, dad. You and she," he corrected. His father narrowed his eyes. "Or her," Jug added quickly.
"She kissed you," he said slowly. Jughead rolled his eyes.
"Let's not talk about it, okay?"
"Isn't she in love with Archie?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Archie's your best friend."
"Dad."
"And what about that Joani girl? Weren't you in love with her?"
"DAD!"
"What ever happened to her? Oh, that's right. Archie and she..."
"Dad. Betty is not in love with Archie. Archie is not my best friend. I'm not in love with Joani. Please."
"I liked Joani."
"DAD! I don't like Joani! I was fifteen, okay? She was pretty. But I don't care! I'm not in love with her, I'm in love with HER!"
"...Who, son?"
"Just...just forget it."
The rest of the ride was quiet.
It was okay, though, because Jughead's thoughts were elsewhere.
***
BETTY
Betty closed the door with a sigh. She touched her lips absently, heading up the stairs to her room. That's when she spotted the picture.
Spotting the hearts scratched into the frame and glass, she felt sick. He had even signed it.
"To Betty, With all my love..."
She flipped it down quickly.
I was stupid...He's stupid...
She flopped onto her bed only to find another picture of that red-headed menace under her pillow. She sighed in frustration, snapping it out and throwing it hard. Unluckily, it was paper. And it flew a total of four inches before landing back onto her bed. She batted it away angrily, covering her face with her pillow.

Bring. Bring.
Her old fashioned ring tone. She grinned and flipped it open, not even bothering to check the number first.
"Hullo?" She felt her stomach rise, hoping for it to be...
"Betty." Ew. "Where've you been?"
She didn't say anything.
"Okay, I know you didn't really go on a date with Jug. And I know that you're not romantically interested in anyone. Except for me. So, I'm sorry, I know you're sorry, let's go make out at Pop's."
She felt sick again.
"Betty?"
"...Arch, I--"
"Oh, good. You're there. How 'bout ten minutes?"
"Archie. I don't think..."
Beep.
"Ugh. Other line," she muttered, pushing the 'Connect' button. "Hello?"
"Hey, sunshine."
Betty grinned.
"Hey, Juggie. I'm on the other line..."
"'Kay. No problem. I'll call back--"
"No! Don't! Just...hang on," she said, almost desperately. She pushed the button to get back on the line with Archie.
Dial tone.
"Hello? Arch?"
After a moment she pushed the same button.
"Juggie?"
"Bets?"
"...Hey." She heard him laugh.
"So. School tomorrow," he sighed. Betty grunted. "Good news is, we have all the same classes tomorrow."
"Bad news is that most of those same classes have Archie in them," Betty responded. He laughed.
"But the good kind of outweighs the bad."
"Very true. Very, very true."
JUGHEAD
Jughead took a breath. She said her parents would be home last night...
It was no big deal, right? Jug had met Betty's parents loads of time right?
But never as a potential boyfriend...
The thought both excited him beyond belief and scared him shitless.
He sucked in a final, deep breath and rang the bell. Mr. Cooper answered.
"Hi, Mr. Cooper," he began, a fake smile overtaking his face. "Is Betty awake?"
"Hey, Jug. I'll get her."
The door closed for a minute and Jughead almost considered listening to his upset stomach and simply running off. But it opened again sooner than he could be halfway across the lawn.
"Hey, Jug!" Betty greeted, throwing her arms around him. Mr. Cooper was still in the doorway...
"H'lo, Betty. Let's get going," Jughead said with a nervous glance at her father. Betty grinned, procured her bag from behind the door, and grabbed her hat from the doorknob before giving her dad a quick peck on the cheek.
"Okay. Let's go."
Jughead made sure her father had closed the door before taking her hand. She wrapped her fingers around his happily.
It was already mid-March. The snow was finally beginning to dissipate, even though the weather was still freezing. In a few weeks it would be warm enough for Jughead to leave Betty's scarf at home.
Even so, he didn't imagine that he'd ever leave it in his closet for very long. They neared the high school.
"Should I let go?" he half-whispered to her.
"What for?" Betty asked, waving to one of her girl-friends.
"They...they'll see!"
"Let them," Betty answered, giving his hand a light squeeze.

They entered the building hand-in-hand.
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