Jabitha Oneshots

I'll make sure of that

Set in 5x19 when Tabitha gets the call from Dolores about the fire in Pops.

As soon as Tabitha picked up her phone to answer the call from Dolores, Jughead knew something was wrong. Despite knowing her for less than a year he could already read his girlfriend's every expression. He knew the way her eyes lit up when she saw something that made her happy, and the way she crossed her arms defensively whenever she was on the verge of tears. Even her slightest movement could send him a million tiny messages.

Sitting at that table in Cucina Sacasa, he immediately noticed the way her face dropped after picking up the phone. As she listened attentively to Dolores' audible, yet incoherent wailing on the other end of the line, her eyes met his urgently and she grabbed her jacket, jumping up from the table.

Jughead stood, throwing the $20 dollar bill he'd saved from the past few weeks of work onto the table and nodding towards the waitress.

"Keep the change," he called at her.

As the couple left the building, Tabitha lowered the phone from her ear, her hand visibly shaking. He placed his palm on her shoulder, quietly calling her name as she continued to stumble toward her car.
"Tabitha? Tabs, what's going on? Talk to me."

She spun around, and Jughead noticed the excruciated expression on her face, like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"Jug, we need to get to Pops. They did it. They threw a Molotov cocktail in, and it's burning.

She choked back a sob and before he knew it, Jughead was guiding her into the passenger seat of the car. With one hand on the steering wheel and the other steadily tracing circles on his girlfriend's palm, he pulled out of the parking lot and began the drive to the diner. He vaguely remembered whispering words he hoped would be comforting, while feeling her body trembling under his touch.

Then, they arrived at Pop's, flinging the car doors open, just as a chain of small explosions wracked the building. For what felt like hours, Jughead found himself unable to tear his eyes from the flames as they engulfed the windows, smoke billowing out into the crisp night air. He was only pulled back into reality as he felt Tabitha slide closer to him, burying her head in the crook of his neck.

"Jughead," she whispered, "Please take me away from here."

Looking down, he found her eyes clamped shut, tears flooding her cheeks as she leaned into his embrace. Gently, he closed his arms around her shoulders, leading her away from the burning building and back in the direction of the car.

At that moment, a piercing whine split the air and the town fire truck pulled into the parking lot. As soon as it screeched to a halt, Archie, Fangs and Frank launched themselves out of the truck and began to unhook a thin hose from its side.

Kevin slid out of the passenger seat and ran over to where Jughead had paused by the car door, still holding Tabitha tightly to his chest.

"Are you guys ok?" he called breathlessly.

"Yeah," Jughead responded, stroking his girlfriend's hair in the way he knew she loved. He hated the pain he could see on her face. Since the first day they'd met, he had known Pop's was her world. She worked hard to keep the struggling business afloat, taking on long, frequent shifts in order to keep her legacy alive. Jughead had listened in on many a phone call where she gushed to her grandpa about the day's

customers, improvements she was working on and how much closer she had come to alleviating the years of built-up debt she'd obtained upon taking over the diner. And now, all her progress was gone.

Kevin's eyes dropped to Tabitha, still crying weakly into Jughead's shirt.

"Is she ok?"
He opened the car door and helped his girlfriend inside. She immediately flopped back against the seat and curled into a ball, clearly exhausted from the day's events. Jughead gingerly kissed her head, still holding her hand as he returned his attention to a rather concerned Kevin.

"She will be," he said, smiling faintly, "I'll make sure of that."