Bughead: AU

21

Betty's POV:

I was looking over some photos of FP and the Serpents, along with old newspaper articles from the Register, when I felt my phone vibrate. I saw that it was a text from Jughead saying that he wanted me upstairs for a minute. He said that he couldn't breathe through his nose and that he wanted some vaporub to put on his chest to help clear his sinuses.

Of course, I went upstairs to get some. Then I went into his room and saw that he was sitting up slightly. He smiled when I came in. I instructed him to sit up further which he did. I pulled his shirt off of him so I could rub his chest. I gently rubbed clockwise around his chest and put some of it on his throat.

He started to yawn. So I closed the container and put his shirt back on him. I told him to get some sleep and that I would be downstairs if he needed me. He nodded and laid down. He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

As soon as I got downstairs I felt my phone vibrate again. This time it was Toni calling me. I knew something must be wrong at the Whyte Wyrm if she was calling me.

"Hey, Toni. What's going on? Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Not really. Sweet Pea and Fangs are fighting about who would be the next leader of the Serpents and it's getting physical. Do you think you could come over here and break it up?" She shouted.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. I just have to leave Jughead a note telling him where I went." I told her.

"Hurry!" She shouted and hung up.

I quickly wrote Jughead a note, put it on his nightstand, and left.

I got to the Whyte Wyrm as fast as I could. I got off my motorcycle and ran into the Wyrm.

"Fangs! Sweet Pea! Enough!" I shouted.

As soon as they heard me they broke it up.

"That's better. Now. Toni tells me that both of you think you'll be the next leader. If you two keep behaving like this I'll have no choice but to suspend you from the Serpents and neither of you will become a leader then. Understood?" I asked.

"Yeah." Sweet Pea said.

"Understood." Fangs said.

"That's better. Now I want both of you to apologize to each other while I talk to Toni about something. After I'm done talking to her I will be coming back over here and making sure you've apologized. Once that's taken care of I'm leaving for a while and Toni will be in charge. Do I make myself clear?" I asked.

"Crystal." They said in unison.

"Good," I said and walked over to Toni.

"Thanks, Betty. You know I wouldn't have called if it wasn't that bad, but I didn't know what else to do. I know you're taking care of Jughead. I'm sorry for calling you and dragging you down here. I know, as your right-hand woman I should have broken it up and dealt with it." She apologized.

"I appreciate the apology Toni, but you did what you thought was right. That shows initiative. I'm proud of you Toni." I said.

"Really?" She asked.

"Really," I told her. "Now I'm going to check on Fangs and Sweet Pea then head out."

"Okay. You can count on me to take care of things here." Toni said.

"I know I can," I told her and walked back to Sweet Pea and Fangs.

"Now have you boys apologized to one another?" I asked them.

"Yes, Betty. And we wanted to apologize to you. Toni told us you were busy, but we didn't listen. We're sorry." Fangs told me.

"Thank you Fangs. I appreciate that. Now I need to leave. Listen to Toni while I'm gone." I told them.

"Okay." Sweet Pea said.

"Understood." Said Fangs.

I went outside and hopped on my motorcycle. I went back to Jughead's house as fast as I could.

As soon as I got back, I saw that Jughead was sitting up looking worried. I noticed that he had my note in his hand.

"Juggie, I know I promised that I would be in the living room, but Toni called and I had to take care of it as the Serpent Queen. Two of my Serpents got into a fight, and as their leader, I had to break it up and make sure it wouldn't happen again. I'm sorry. I didn't want to leave you." I said. I looked down at the ground in shame as I said this.

Jughead patted the bed, beckoning me to sit down beside him.

"It's okay Betty. I know you were just doing your job. *cough cough* I understand. *cough cough cough*" He said.

"Thank you Juggie. Now It looks like it's time for another dose of medicine." I said and grabbed some from the bathroom.

He took it without complaining again.

"I'm kinda tired. Do you think I could join you in bed for a while?" I asked him.

He nodded and adjusted the bedspread so I could join him. I kissed his forehead and laid down and went to sleep.

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Jughead's POV:

Betty looked exhausted. I knew she must be stressed from dealing with the Serpents and taking care of me too. So I thought I would make things easier for her by getting some rest so I could get over this flu sooner. I wanted us to be able to make the announcement that I'm going to be the Serpent King. Right by Betty's side. So I readjusted my pillow so I could lay down and get some sleep. I fell asleep instantly with a smile on my face.