Bughead One-shots | Riverdale

Stressed

As soon as he had opened the door she was in his arms, tucked underneath his chin as he held her tightly against himself. It was days like those, where he was constantly close to a breakdown of some sort, where he really appreciated Betty's comfort. Even just being near her with nothing said helped him. Her soft touch, the sweet smell of her hair he got when hugging her, her soothing voice when she knew just what to say; she always knew how to help.

Jughead had needed it all day, when the stress from the Serpents was at a point where he almost crippled under the weight of it all. He needed a break from all of it, so he needed Betty.

But once she'd pulled from the hug and he got to look at her he frowned, his hand lifting to her cheek. She looked just as worn down as he did; red eyes from crying, eyebrows scrunched downwards, shoulders slumped. He'd forget about his problems in a second if Betty needed him there for her; seeing her in such a state made him feel worse that she was suffering.
Betty's eyes closed as his hand cupped her cheek and she sighed, leaning into it as his lips pressed to her forehead.

"What's wrong, love?" Jughead mumbled against her forehead, followed by another soft kiss before he pulled back to look at her.

"I need to stay here tonight," Betty whispered with a frown - at that moment Jughead noticed the backpack she carried over her shoulders. "My mom is going to kill me. I need a break from her, Jug." She whispered, and Jughead frowned when it almost looked like she would start crying.

Betty's mom had always worried him. She put too much pressure on Betty, too much pressure to be perfect. And he knew that Betty didn't like the word, but she already was perfect to him. He could never see why Alice didn't know that already.

"Of course you can stay, I'm sorry about your mom." Jughead pulled her into another hug and gently squeezed her, pulling her inside gently so he could close the door of his trailer behind her.

"I missed you today," Betty mumbled into his hoodie, where she'd buried her head against his shoulder. "Did you have a good day?"

Jughead almost laughed at the question, because he'd had quite the opposite really. It seemed neither of them had much luck that day. "Not really, no. I think I needed you here tonight just as much as you needed it, too." He whispered, holding her even tighter to himself for a moment before he released her from his hold.

"Oh, I'm sorry Jug." Betty said softly, meeting his gaze as she let her fingertips brush along his jawline.

"S'okay, you're here now," Jughead muttered, noticing her lips curve upwards lightly at his words as she nodded her head in response. "Do you want to watch a movie? My dad's out still."

"Yeah, I'm not really too tired yet." Betty nodded, even though she looked exhausted, and leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him briefly before she pulled away and dropped her backpack by the end of the couch.

Jughead sat on the couch and leaned back with a groan as Betty curled up to his side, her arms tightening around his waist as he browsed Netflix for a moment. He supposed she probably wasn't in the mood for a horror movie at that moment, and he assumed she was still tired despite what she said, so after a minute or so of looking he put on the Breakfast Club - a movie they had both seen hundreds of times together - and moved both arms around Betty as he put the TV controller down again.

He felt her head drop against his shoulder, and turned to press his lips to her hairline. He always felt terrible when Betty had a bad day, he hated that she was suffering and he couldn't do anything about it. Especially when it was her mother. Neither of them had luck in that department, he supposed. Jughead was just grateful that FP had taken such a liking to Betty. During the time that Betty was staying at the trailer, they had gotten really close, close enough that FP pretty much treated her as his own, which Jughead was grateful for. FP would happily take her in any time she needed, and he knew that Betty took comfort in knowing that she had another parental figure that she could look towards.

As the movie went on, Betty subtly but surely relaxed against him. Her stiff posture evened out until she was almost completely relaxed. A few times he'd glanced down at her and her eyes were fighting to close, but he didn't comment on it or offer to move. There in that moment, with her in his arms, everything was okay. He didn't want to break it and move them.

"I love you." Betty mumbled quietly sometime into the movie, and had leaned up to press her lips to his cheek then to his lips for a few moments.

"I love you too." He whispered and smiled softly as she pulled away, his palm rubbing against her back.

Betty smiled back and kissed him again, before she pulled away and shifted so she was laying across the couch with her head in his lap, her arm almost hugging his lag. He couldn't help but smile softly as he watched her, continuing the movement of his palm rubbing over her back as she stretched out comfortably. Jughead wasn't even paying attention to the movie anymore as he watched her in such utter adoration, utterly thankful that he got lucky enough to be with someone as amazing as Betty Cooper. He loved her so much that it was almost impossible. And at times like that where they needed each other the most, he was always so thankful that she was there. Comforting him without even realising she was doing it.

Jughead felt her grip loosen on his leg and he glanced down at her again, his gaze softening when he saw that her eyes were closed. He could understand how tiring it was to be stressed all day, and whenever Betty got calm enough she was easy to fall asleep. He didn't want to wake her by moving, knowing that she'd appreciate the nap, so he carefully reached over to the back of the sofa and pulled the blanket off of it to cover Betty. She didn't wake, only shifted slightly so she was hugging his leg again.

Jughead leaned back further into the couch as he rubbed her back underneath the blanket, smiling fondly as he watched her. If he needed to, he'd stay there forever with her just so she would be happy and calm. He'd feel all of the stress and negative feelings for her if he could, just so she would never have to suffer. She didn't deserve it, she was too pure for the world; she deserved so much more than horrible parents and murders to deal with.

If he could, he'd run away with her just so she could be happy. Their own happily ever after. She deserved it more than anybody else.