Always & Forever | Bughead Oneshots

To Ease The Ache

soooo...funny story behind this: my entire body was aching for three days last week and then the day that it stopped, i tore a ligament in my knee and am now incapacitated. we're still waiting to get an MRI 🤠. anyway, enjoy this!!

"Hey, honey," Jughead said softly as Betty made her way into her room. "Hey, what're you doing here?" she replied, slowly easing her way over to her vanity. She pulled her hair down, wincing with closed eyes as he answered, "Your mom invited me over."

"Really? Why?" she asked, starting to take off her makeup. "She wanted to make sure I'd get dinner tonight. How was practice?" It was already dark outside and Betty hadn't been home since 6:00a.

She went to school and then stayed after for hour-and-a-half Vixen practice before settling down in the Blue & Gold to work on the newspaper. "Um," she paused before dropping her makeup wipe and reaching down to grab it slowly.

She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes tight as she grabbed the wipe, catching Jughead's eye as he asked, "Are you okay, Betts?" "I'm just...my body really hurts," she answered before finishing taking off her makeup.

"From practice?" he asked, standing up to walk over to the blonde. "I dunno, it's been...a few days." "Where does it hurt?" he asked, his hands on her shoulders gently. "My legs, and my arms, and my neck, and my shoulders, and my back," she listed.

"Hips, too," she added. "Just your muscles?" he asked, concerned as he watched his girl in pain. Betty nodded before turning around to face her boyfriend. "Okay, how about this? We'll get you some pain killers, I'll draw you a hot bath, and we can take it from there, 'kay?"

Betty nodded again before clearing her throat and saying, "I have, um, extra strength Acetaminophen on my nightstand," while motioning over towards her bed. "And I have water in my bag."

Jughead nodded slightly before getting the bottle of pills as well as her skinny water bottle and handing her both. She took two pills before slipping off her sweater as her boyfriend put his palm against her cheek and said, "I'm gonna run you a bath, okay?"

She nodded and their lips met for a second before he was walking into the Cooper girl's bathroom and turning her bath on with hot water streaming from the faucet. "Do you want some salts?" he called out, making sure the water wasn't too hot.

"Yeah, the ocean one," Betty answered back, slipping off her underwear before putting her robe on. Jughead nodded slightly before grabbing her blue bottle of bath salts and putting a little less than a capful into the running water.

He walked back out to Betty's room and sighed when he saw her groaning with a hand rubbing one shoulder. "Do you want me to stay with you? I can take care of everything so you can just relax."

The blonde nodded before grabbing her hairband from earlier and tying her hair up in a bun. "I don't wanna wash my hair," she explained before walking into the bathroom with her boyfriend. He held her hand as she eased down into the bath, sighing with closed eyes as she settled into the foggy water.

"That good?" he asked, moving one of the blonde's baby hairs to lay behind her ear. She nodded and looked up with a smile, her knees brought into her chest before laying back and trying to stretch her legs out.

"Let me know when you wanna start getting washed up," he said, watching her eyes close and eyebrows furrow. "What?" Jughead asked. "What is it?" "I think...I'm getting a headache," Betty answered, her eyes still closed because most of the time, the light made headaches worse.

"I'm sorry, honey," he sighed, knowing that he couldn't give her any more pain pills for a while. "You never got around to telling me how your day was," he said, trying to distract her from the pain.

"Long," Betty answered, her eyes still closed. "And tiring." "How about practice?" "It hurt and I'm pretty sure I only know, like ten percent of our new dance," she answered. "It's awkward when Ronnie's not there."

Veronica had been on a week-long vacation to New York and Betty's confidence as a cheerleader was completely dependent on whether or not the 'V' to her 'B' was present. "What about the Blue & Gold?" he asked before picking up her bath loofah and grabbing her body wash.

"Um, I didn't get a lot done," she replied, leaning forward as he ran the loofah across her shoulders and upper back. "I was really tired." "That's okay, baby," he said, lifting her left arm to wash it.

"I'll help you tomorrow," he offered, helping her rinse the lathered soap off of her skin. "You don't have to--" "If it'll lessen the burden," Jughead replied, washing her right arm. Betty didn't refute any further but gave him a weak smile before being instructed to lift her leg.

When the time came for Betty to leave the bath, Jughead wrapped her in her dark teal towel and kissed the top of her head before carrying the blonde in her towel back into her room, sitting her on the chest at the edge of her bed as he picked out her pajamas.

He gave her a short-sleeved sleep shirt and a pair of her underwear, reaching for pajama pants before Betty said, "I was gonna put lotion on first." "Do you want me to do it for you?" he asked, grabbing her lotion from the vanity.

She nodded before yawning and adding, "If you don't mind." "'Course not," he replied with a small smile before taking her arm and rubbing lotion onto her skin, massaging it in, and hearing the girl make small noises-- some out of pain and some out of relief.

He moved to her other arm before trailing up to her neck and making the blonde close her eyes. He worked through the knots on her shoulder and she groaned with furrowed eyebrows. "Tell me if it hurts too much," he advised before kissing her cheek.

"No, you're good," she replied. When the Jones boy finished with the blonde's upper body, he gave Betty her shirt and underwear before kneeling down onto the carpet to lotion her legs. She smiled as she watched him, knowing that even when she was exhausted and hurting, she was cared for.

"You're sweet for this," she smiled as Jughead's hands worked around her thighs. "Baby, you deserve it," he replied before moving on to her other leg. She winced when he pressed his thumbs into her thigh before apologizing.

"It's okay," Betty answered as Jughead stood up, rubbing the excess lotion into his hands before setting the bottle on her nightstand. He helped her to stand before asking, "You want me to tuck you in, baby?"

"Can you stay with me tonight?" she asked as he eased her into bed. "You sure? You don't want the room to be a bit more spaced?" "No, I want you to stay with me," she nearly whined. Jughead only smiled and untied her hair, answering, "Okay, sweetheart."

Betty would have to sleep on her back until some of the pain subsided and as such, Jughead did too, their fingers intertwining beneath the sheets as he whispered his goodnights to an already sleeping Cooper girl.