Bughead One-shots | Riverdale

"It's not your fault."

When Jughead was let out of the hospital, he was still sore and in pain, so Betty decided to stay at the trailer for at least a week to make sure he was okay when FP wasn't home. Ever since her father had been arrested she had been looking for reasons to distract herself from dwelling on the truth, that her father was a serial killer, and Jughead - although he didn't like to admit it - needed a lot of assistance. So it was the perfect timing, really. She got to help her boyfriend and ignore facing what had happened.

On the third day of her helping him, Jughead knew something was up. She seemed too... cheerful, for someone who had gone through what Betty did. He didn't even know what someone would feel in that situation, but he knew she shouldn't be so happy. It had been only a small amount of time since that night, and the only time she'd spoken about her father was when he was in hospital. And even then he had been the one to bring it up.

He knew Betty maybe even more than anyone else, and he was aware of her tendency to bottle things up until she had to deal with them. Don't get him wrong, he was absolutely no better, but he didn't want Betty to have to deal with everything at once when it finally came out. He was her boyfriend, he was supposed to be there to help her through things. And if that meant helping get through the fact that her father was a serial killer, then so be it.

Jughead winced as he stood up from the sofa, gritting his teeth in an attempt to ignore the searing pain that ran through his side for a moment at the movement. The Ghoulies really did a number on him, as much as he hated to admit it. And he really was thankful for Betty's help with everything. He just wished she'd take some time to care about herself, too. As she very obviously needed it.

He found her moving around the kitchen as she hummed some tune of a song that had been on the radio recently, putting away some dishes that had been left on the draining board. When she caught sight of him she smiled, and he could only match her expression halfway, solely concerned about her. If he didn't try and talk to her about it, as much as he didn't want to upset her, she probably wouldn't at all.

"Are you okay?" Betty asked first of all, her hand lightly touching the side of his arm. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No, no I'm fine," Jughead shook his head, for the moment pushing back the thought that he actually did need to take some more painkillers. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Betty tilted her head a little and he sighed softly, gently reaching to take one of her hands with his own.

"Are you doing okay, Betty?"

He watched as she hesitated at the question. He could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to form an answer, and after a moment too long had passed she smiled slightly and nodded. "I'm fine. Just worried about you."

"Betty," Jughead sighed, and he watched as her gaze drifted down to the floor instead of looking back at him, her smile faltering slightly. "You can talk to me."

Betty sighed and let her hand slip out of his grasp as she leaned back against the counter, her eyes falling shut for a moment. "It's just typical," She mumbled. "My dad would be a serial killer, wouldn't he? As if my family isn't crazy enough, my dad murdered people. And hurt lots of others," Her hand lifted to wipe some tears that fell past her waterline as she continued to stare at the floor. "I should've known, I should've seen it sooner."

"What?" Jughead's eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head, moving close enough to stand in front of her, watching as her gaze lifted to look at him through a tear-filled gaze. "Betty, no. No you couldn't have known. It's not your fault."

The blonde sniffled a little and shook her head as her bottom lip quivered slightly. "It was my dad. I'm closer to him than pretty much the rest of the town, if anybody was to know it should have been me."

"Betty, listen to me," Jughead lifted his hand to her cheek so she had no choice but to continue looking at him, as his thumb wiped away a stray tear on her cheek. "You couldn't have known, okay? You were just as in the dark as everyone else. It's not your fault."

He watched as her expression crumpled as she started crying and sighed, moving his hand from her cheek so he could pull her against him instead. Jughead ignored the flaming sting across his side that flared up when her arms had tightened around him and instead held onto her just as tight, one of his hands lifting to the back of her head so he held her completely against him. He closed his eyes as he leaned his chin against the top of her head so she was completely tucked against his body, feeling her body shake with every cry she let out.

"It's not your fault," He whispered again into her hair before he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, his free hand comfortingly rubbing her side as she continued to hold onto him. "I love you, Betty. I'm here for you, okay? If you need to talk about it you can talk to me."

"Okay," She managed to get out amongst her tears as she held onto him a little tighter, causing him to grit his teeth as the pain increased slightly, though he didn't dare let her go as she mumbled again, "I love you too."