What We Once Were

Chapter 9.

Betty froze in her tracks and it felt like someone was ringing her neck so she couldn't speak or breathe. 

"Betty, I want the truth. Is Juliet my daughter?" Jughead's stern voice penetrated all those years of lies and running away from her past. Betty wasn't sure if she wanted to crawl into a hole and weep or stand here and cry. 

"Jug....Jughead, I...I...I can explain." Betty stuttered. 

"Explain what? That you hid our daughter from me for almost five years?!" Jughead was losing his edge, Betty couldn't blame him, but it had been a long time since she'd last seen him like this and whenever he got angry like this, it scared her down to the bone. 

"I wanted to tell you about her Jughead! There were so many times over the years that I wanted to tell you about her but I just...couldn't bring myself to do it." Betty's eyes stung, the tears were only beginning and she knew that once they started, they wouldn't stop either. 

"I hope you have a damn good reason as to why Betty." He turned and glared at her, "you knew didn't you? Back then, that day at the lake. You knew and didn't tell me." His voice tumbled in a low undertone that sent goosebumps all over Betty's body. 

"I wanted to, and I was going to. But then you had something to say, I let you and then you broke my heart Jug." Betty's voice cracked as they stood at a standstill in the middle of the street. The sky above them was orange with looking grey clouds overhead. 

"You still should've said something." 

"Said what? If you were breaking up with me because I was leaving for 8 months to go to college, then you sure as hell couldn't handle being a parent. Which by the way is so much harder than going to college." Betty snapped, her voice echoing down the empty street. 

"Don't you dare accuse me of not being ready to handle being a parent. Don't you dare try and put this on me." Jughead deadpanned. 

"How can I not?! How was I going to be able to trust you and believe you could handle a huge responsibility if you couldn't even deal with me going away for less than a damn year!" Betty cried. 

"That's no excuse!" 

"Yes it is! You ended things between us because you said that you didn't want to hold me back, that I would fall in love with someone else but wouldn't let myself because of you. Jughead, I wanted you! You were everything I needed to be happy, whether or not I got my degree I would've put it on hold to raise our daughter with you!" 

"But then you wouldn't have gotten your dream job you always talked about, you shouldn't hold yourself back from doing that." 

"See? There you go again! What, do you think you're just not good enough, that you didn't deserve my love when we were 18?!" Betty glared at him with glassy eyes. 

"Betty, I am many things. And I loved you, more than anything or anyone I've ever loved before but I was not going to hold you back from achieving everything you wanted in life. That was never in the cards for me." 

"What the hell are you talking about?! Look at you! You waited an extra year and you're in exactly the same place as I am! We both got our jobs, we both finished school, everything I have, you worked for it too! If you don't love me anymore that's fine Jughead, I can deal with that. But if you're trying to bullshit your reasoning as to why you ended things between us five years ago then don't even preach the lie that you didn't love me anymore because I know you did." Betty yelled, making a fist so tight she felt her nails gouging into her flesh. 

"I did what was best for you!" 

"I'm sick of everyone trying to always do what's best for me, of always making my decisions for me! I want to live my own life, make my own choices without anything influencing them whatsoever! That's what I always loved about you, you let me make my own choices and stood by me. That's why I wasn't afraid to tell you that I was pregnant that day. But then you turned into everyone else in my life and I was never going to ever let you break my daughter's heart like you did mine." Betty let the tears fall as she turned around and stormed away from him. All the anger she had trapped inside her for years had surfaced and blown up like a volcano.