In which Jughead doesn't like Betty's boyfriend ♥️
Jughead clenched his jaw as he stared at the blonde angel across the room from him. She was perched on the table talking to her best friend Veronica Lodge, sipping on a bottle of water and listening intently to what the raven-haired girl was saying, when he walked in. Her new boyfriend who had replaced Jughead. Reggie Mantle.
Jughead's heart split in two the night that Betty had broken up with him. It had been a night of raised voices, and words he had regretted the minute they spilt out of his mouth like the Blossom's sticky maple syrup.
It had been a month since the break up and Jughead was still as depressed as ever about the situation, not to mention madly in love. So when he found out that Reggie had made a pass at Betty, his first emotion was sadness, then anger. Surely Betty didn't consent to this, Reggie was a disgusting guy, almost as foul as Chuck Clayton... Right? He was shocked when he found out the truth
{Flashback to a few days ago}
"Betty, are you okay?" Jughead asked hurriedly as he finally found her standing next to her locker, after what seemed hours of looking.
Betty stared into his chocolate eyes as confusion masked her face. They hadn't talked since the breakup, so she was immensely shocked by the sudden interaction.
"What are you talking about, Jughead?" Betty inquired.
The beanie boy swallowed, "I heard Veronica talking to Archie about you and Reggie, apparently he kissed you? I must have gotten the wrong end of the stick.".
Betty sighed audibly, "no, you heard correctly." Jughead raised his eyebrows with surprise.
"What the hell Betty? You do realise he's a jerk. He's constantly barged into me and called me stupid names ever since we started this crappy school!" Betty didn't meet his eyes, and so Jughead thought of the worst.
"Bets, did... did he force himself on you?!". Betty shushed him.
"Of course he didn't! Could you keep it down?" There were multiple people walking past and noticing their conversation. "Look Jug, he's not like that anymore. He's not the same Reggie who pushed you in the corridors or gave you those immature labels. He likes me for me, he's a good guy."
"But Bets-" The boy tried interjecting but she quickly followed suit.
"No Jughead, you don't get to be involved with my private life anymore, there's no 'us' now, and you need to let it go." And with that the bell began ringing and she walked away, leaving the heartbroken male to mumble under his breath,
"but I still love you."
{End of flashback}
Reggie walked up to the two girls and gave Betty a flashing smile before leaning in and roughly kissing her. Veronica stood there awkwardly, and Jughead's insides flipped over uncomfortably as he watched the scene unfold.
Betty pulled away slightly red in the face, "watch out there Reg" she nervously giggled.
"What's the matter babe?" He questioned, curiously.
"Well I was having a conversation with V, and well, you kinda interrupted her."
Reggie frowned at the blonde, "what, you don't like me anymore, you're not into me?"
"No!" Betty quickly added, "I like you a lot it's just, well, PDA can make some people uncomfortable." She added the last bit quietly so to not embarrass the boy.
As Betty hopped down from the table, the dark haired male spoke up.
"Whatever you say babe," Reggie smirked slyly and patted her bottom. She jumped a bit but let it go. It made Jughead's blood boil.
Throughout the rest of their free period, Jughead sat pretending to be working on his novel and watched Betty squirm underneath Reggie's inappropriate touches. He felt as if his jaw would fall off with all the clenching it was doing. Betty was Reggie's girlfriend now, but Jughead knew this wasn't okay, especially since Betty kept making a point that she wanted him to stop. Reggie would just laugh and tighten his embrace around her waist, his hand brushing her breast. The final straw was when he pulled her onto his lap, placing his hand upon her thigh and began working it's way up.
"Reggie, stop!" Betty yelled, standing abruptly.
"Why?" Reggie yelled back, standing also and gripping her upper arm so they were facing each other. Jughead shot up from his seat, anger coursing through his veins. Reggie noticed him.
"Oh I see, it's because of Wednesday Addams over there, right?"
Betty frowned, "What? No, you're just making me feel uncomfortable, Reg. If this is how it's gonna be then I can't be your girlfriend!"
Reggie's face reddened, he seemed hurt at first but then fury took over.
"No! This is because of him!" He pointed an accusing finger at the beanie-clad teen, "I saw you the other day."
Realisation hit Betty's face, "Reg, that was nothing. We were just talking!"
Reggie held her tighter as she squeaked in pain, and Jughead took this as his queue to rush in.
"Get off her," he tried helping Betty.
"What? You're not gonna be the reason we break up, Donny Darko."
Betty spoke up, "yeah, he's not. You are. I can't be with you like this Reg, I'm sorry."
And with that Reggie slammed the girl into the wall behind.
It happened so quick. One minute Jughead was watching his beautiful, compassionate Betty being slammed into a concrete wall, the next his fist was coming in contact with Reggie's face. As soon as Reggie realised what happened he had jumped onto Jughead like he was the only punching bag in the gym. Betty tried screaming at Reggie for him to stop but he didn't.
Eventually Reggie was pulled off of the boy and sent to the principal's office.
Jughead and Betty sat opposite each other as Betty dabbed the cuts on Jughead's face with cotton and alcohol.
They sat in awkward silence until Betty sniffed, "you better not say 'I told you so'"
Jughead met her eyes, they were shiny but she wasn't quite crying. "Betty." She kept her eyes on his busted lip.
"Look at me Bets." When she finally looked into his eyes he searched hers, giving her a convincing and caring look.
"I would never say that to you," he placed his bruised hand upon her smooth, pale one. She gave him a small smile.
"I'm sorry he did this to you."
"Hey," his hand moved to cup her cheek, "it's not your fault, okay?" She hesitantly nodded as he waited for some reassurance.
"Anyway, you should have known I would have got involved. Like I said I'm a lover and a fighter." She giggled at him, for the first time in a long time.
They would be okay. They could be friends. And maybe, sooner than they thought, they'd finally get together again. Betty and Jughead. Bughead.
