The Only Beanie - Book 4 (Riverdale Season 4/5)

In Treatment

***Talk of abuse

"Dad, what's that?" Aminity asked as FP came back inside, staring at something in his hand with an unsettled face.

"A tape." She went silent. She followed her father into the living room, Betty and Alice joining them as they watched. It was another video of their house, but this time, it was much closer.

***

"You got one?" Aminity nodded as she sat with Sweet Pea at Pop's, milkshakes in front of them. "You okay?"

"Yeah. They're just... you know."

"I know." He reached across the table and took her hand.

She chuckled as he looked at her. "I'm sorry. Going on a date is supposed to be fun. We're supposed to talk about our favorite movies and have silly arguments about what's the best flavor of milkshake."

"No offense, but I think we're past that," he smiled gently at her, leaning down a bit so she would look at him. "Besides, part of dating is talking about the hard stuff and helping each other. I can't do that if you don't talk to me."

She sighed, giving him a true smile. "You're too good to me."

"Someone has to be."

***

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Aminity asked as she saw Jughead come out of Mrs. Burble's office.

"I needed my transcript," he told her simply before hugging her.

"Uh... I missed you too," she said slowly as she patted his back.

"Are you scared of me?"

"What?"

"Are you, or have you ever been, scared of me?" he asked again as he pulled away. "Scared that I would hurt you."

"No, of course not, Jug. What's going on?"

"Grandpa abused Dad. Dad said he would never do something like that and then he abused you. I don't want to be like them."

"Jug, you're not."

"How do you know? Dad got so preoccupied with other things when he started hitting you, Grandpa probably did the same thing, and now I'm getting caught up in everything-"

"Jughead," she stopped him. "You are not our father. You are not our grandfather. Dad and I had our... issues, but we've worked on them and we're okay now. Are parts of it gonna follow me for the rest of my life? Of course. But you made it better, not worse. You're not gonna do that."

He wrapped her in another hug. "I'm so sorry for everything."

"You didn't do anything wrong," she assured him as tears came to her eyes and she hugged her brother tighter.

***

"So, how goes college applications?" Aminity asked as she rubbed Sweet Pea's shoulder, coming and sitting next to him at the bar while he stared at the screen. He only sighed. "That bad?"

"I have no idea what to do," he admitted. "I mean, I don't even know what I want to do after I graduate. And I don't have the money to spend on college, especially if I get a degree that doesn't mean anything and-"

"Hey," she stopped him, gently grabbing his cheek and making him look at her, "just breathe for a second." He listened, taking a deep breath in and letting it out. "Better?"

"A little," he said quietly.

"It's okay for this to be stressful. It's a lot of big decisions."

"You're one to talk. You probably have your entire future planned out."