Shedding Our Skin {Jughead Jones}{Bughead}

Chapter Nine

We stayed there for a long time that night, talking and laughing, but it felt strange.

It felt like nothing would ever be the same.

I searched the faces of the people at the table, and none of them seemed to be disturbed or even slightly upset.

It felt too good, I guess. Like as if I hadn't just rescued Betty from God knows what, and she wasn't sitting there, hurting no doubt.

I knew she was safe now, but it felt as if as long as my eyes were on her, she was in danger.

I knew what I had to do.

Once everyone had left, save Alice and Polly, I asked Betty to come outside with me, a deep sadness building up in me from what was about to happen.

"You know I love you." I told her.

"And I love you!" She replied, wrapping her arms around my neck. I took a step away from her.

"What's wrong?" She asked, safe a

"I don't think this is going to work." I told her.

"What?" Her face morphed from concern to a sad confusion.

"I want you safe. I don't ever want you to be in danger or hurt ever again."

"Juggie, we can make this work!" She reasoned.

"I want you safe." I repeated. In the hurricane of thoughts running rampant in my mind, this was the only one I could hear clearly.

"I am." She said, "Juggie, I watch out for myself and when I can't, you're there."

I pulled her into an embrace.

"Come home with me, stay the night. I don't know what's gotten into you but I think you shouldn't be alone right now. And maybe I shouldn't either." She said.

I nodded into her shoulder.

When we got to her place, Alice insisted on "celebratory coffee", which we drank standing in her kitchen.

"Where's your dad?" I asked Betty.

"We're getting a divorce." Alice said casually, sipping her coffee.

"Ah, I see." I replied.

"When I moved in, the ladies of the house got together after a particularly rough night and decided he did more harm than good." Polly told me. "Hopefully Mom will get the Register and we'll run it."

"Which brings me to a question of my own." Alice began, "Would you be interested in coming and writing with us?"

"You and I both have enough experience with the Blue and Gold, and you've also been writing for a while now so you can start as soon as we get the O.K.." Betty included.

"I would love that." I said, "But I'm not sure having a Southside Serpent write for you will do well for the business."

"Once they read your writing, it won't be a problem I'm sure." Betty told me.

I smiled at her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Polly and Alice share a glance.

"Betty, why don't we go get ready for bed?" She asked, practically dragging Betty towards the stairs.

Before I knew it, I was in a situation I never would have thought I'd find myself in: receiving a hug from Alice Cooper.

"Thank you, Jones, for bringing my baby home, and for helping Betty find Polly a while back. That's more than anyone's done for my family in a long, long time." She said.

"I really do love her." I said, and Alice backed away, "I know in the past you've had reason to believe I was trouble, but I really care for her."

"I can tell, and as much as I love to believe no man is good enough for this family, and all the reason I have to distrust boys after what happened to Polly, I can't ignore what you and Betty have. It's special." She replied.

I nodded at her, almost in tears. I never expected to hear anyone say something like that to me, much less Alice Cooper.

Polly walked up beside me, and put an arm around my shoulder, "Welcome to the family, Jughead!" She said.

"I've put some bedding on the couch for you." She added.

As I walked into her living room, I heard Alice snort,

"As if he's going to be sleeping one the couch."

I shook my head, suddenly wondering if this was even real. Had Alice only acted so strange because of Hal? It made me wonder if actually had known what was going on behind the wall of alleged perfection the Coopers had built.

I laid down on the couch and soon went to sleep, immediately being plunged into a nightmare.

I was alone, standing by the gate of the home of Betty's captors. There were no serpents with me this time. Suddenly, the door was thrown open and Betty was tossed out of the house, bloodied and bruised. Her arm was bent at an odd angle, and her fingers were twisted and broken. Her opposite leg was horrifically bloodied, and her foot was turned in the wrong direction.

I ran to her, kneeling next to my girlfriend. I was screaming words not even I could make out. She looked up at me with big, terrified eyes, and opened her mouth to speak, when a gunshot rang out, and Betty fell before me in the grass. Within her matted, blonde hair was a gaping bullet hole.

As I stared into the blackness of the wound, it suddenly enveloped me.

I opened my eyes to a very tired looking Polly standing over me.

"Jughead." She whispered, "Betty needs you, she's been screaming and crying in her sleep."

I looked at the clock on the wall.

"Polly it's 3:47 a.m.. How long has she been doing this?" I asked.

"Since about midnight, off and on." She yawned.

"I'll see what I can do." I said getting up.

"Thank you." She replied.

I opened Betty's door as quietly as I could. She was curled up in fetal position on her bed. I thought she had went back to sleep until her entire body jerked and she let out a awful cry.

"Betty..." I said gently, shaking her. She stirred a little, but remained asleep.

"Betty." I said more sternly.

"Yeah?" She said groggily, sitting up.

"Did you have a nightmare?" I asked, sitting down next to her and putting my arm around her.

"No." She said, nonchalantly.

"You sure?" I asked. I was pretty sure she did.

To my surprise, she burst into tears, shaking her head.

"Oh, Betty..." I said, wrapping the other arm around her and lying down with her.

She burrowed farther into my arms as she calmed down, while I rubbed her back and listened to her sob in my chest.

As quickly as she stopped crying, she was asleep again, and I soon was too.