Truth Or Dare

Chapter Ten

"I'm fine." Cheryl says as she shifts Jeremiah in her arms.

She was staying with the Cooper's since her mother had decided to kick her out.

"No you're not. You need sleep." Alice said.

Shaking her head, Cheryl fights back a yawn. "JJ needs me right now." she says, referring to the fussy baby.

"You're not going to do him any good if you can't keep your eyes open." Alice said.

"Why don't you talk to Toni." Betty said. "You need her support."

Cheryl yawns softly. "She won't answer."

"Why not?" Betty asked.

The redhead shifts her still crying son and gently rocks him. "No idea."

Betty frowned. "Why don't we go for a walk, see if we can find her? He might settle down and fall asleep in the fresh air." She suggested.

An exhausted tear slid down Cheryl's cheek and she nodded her head. "Okay."

"Okay, I'll take him. You get dressed." Betty said.

Nodding her head, Cheryl passes the baby to Betty before heading to her room.

"Hey." Betty smiled, looking at the baby. "Shh." She began rocking him.

Jeremiah squirms in her arms slightly and continues to softly fuss.

"You're a handsome boy." Betty said.

A few minutes passed and Cheryl didn't leave her room. Jeremiah was still fussing softly in Betty's arms.

"Let me take him, you go check on Cheryl." Alice tells her daughter, gently taking the baby.

Betty nodded. She passed the boy to her mother and left the room.

She found Cheryl half dressed and asleep on the bed.

Betty sighed, she turned and left the room. "She fell asleep."

Alice looks up from the now sleeping baby in her arms. "Why don't you go see Jughead and see if you can talk to Toni."

Betty nodded. "Yeah."

"I'll keep an eye on Jeremiah and Cheryl." Alice says softly.

Betty nodded again. "Okay."

****

"What's up?" Jughead asks Betty after opening the door to his trailer.

"Where's Toni?" Betty asked.

The dark haired teen steps back into his trailer. "Her, Fangs, and Sweetpea are here. Why what's up?"

"I need to see her." Betty said, stepping into the trailer.

Nodding his head, Jughead points to the couch where Toni was.

"Toni." Betty moved over to her.

Toni looked up. "What's up Betty?"

"Cheryl needs you." Betty said.

Tensing, latina frowns and looks at her. "What?"

"Cheryl needs you." Betty said. "She needs your help."

"I already told her I wouldn't be a good mom." Toni said.

Betty closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "So what, you're going to leave her to raise JJ alone? She's already barely sleeping or eating because she's terrified something is going to happen."

"Why am I being forced to raise a child?" Toni asked. "I made my feelings clear from the beginning."

Shaking her head, Betty forces a laugh. "You're right, why should you care at all about what's going on with Cheryl or even your son." the blonde begins to walk away only for Jughead to grab her arm.

"Betty's right Toni, you need to start being there for Cheryl. Do you want JJ to grow up like you and I did? With no parents or only one parent?" Jughead asks, looking toward the other serpent.

"So, I should raise a child that I'm not ready for? I should raise a child that I could grow to resent." Toni said.

Rolling his eyes, Jughead turns to fully face her. "Cut the crap Toni. I already know that you told Fangs that you want to raise him. You're just scared." he says calmly.

"Of course I'm scared. I'll screw up. I screw everything up." Toni said.

"You'll only screw up if you keep pushing Cheryl away and making her raise JJ alone." Jughead responds.

"You don't know that." Toni snapped. "I don't have any parents to mimic. I have no clue what to do!"

Rolling his eyes, Jughead sighs. "Toni, I know you. Don't keep fighting it. You told us before that you wanted kids and now you have one."

"My grandfather will kill me." Toni said.

"Then come live with us, with Cheryl. We have the room." Betty says instantly.

Toni shook her head. "He's my grandfather. I can't leave him."

"JJ is your son." Betty responds instantly. "He needs you and besides you keep coming up with all these reasons that you can't raise him. But did you ever stop and think about how hard it is for Cheryl?"

Toni stood up. "Stop forcing me to do something I am not ready for. She's the one who decided to keep him. I told her my feelings." She moved to leave.

Jughead grabs her arm. "I thought you wanted to be better than your parents." he snaps out.

Toni pulled her arm from his hand. "I'm nothing like my parents." She snapped.

"Abandoning your kid, wanting him to have been an abortion. Sounds an awful lot like your parents." Jughead snaps, moving closer to her. "Stop being like them."

Toni dropped her head shamefully, she turned to Betty. "Where is Cheryl?"

"At my house, passed out from exhaustion." Betty responds.

Toni nodded. She pushed passed Jughead and left without a word, heading in the direction of Betty's house.

Betty kisses Jughead before following after Toni. "I'll give you a ride."

Toni shook her head. "I'll walk."

"You sure?" Betty asks with a small frown.

Toni nodded.

"Okay." Betty says before heading to her car.

Toni continued walking.