Shedding Our Skin {Jughead Jones}{Bughead}

Chapter Twenty-One

I kept my eyes closed for a moment. The beeping of what could only be a heart monitor seemed to grow louder by every beep.

I opened my eyes slowly, and to my pleasant surprise the room was dim.

The events leading up to now rushed back to me.

Donny being put in the hospital. Me getting drunk. Strangling Pug. Donny telling me off. The drive by. Seeing Pug. Shooting Pug. Pug shooting me. The scream.

Betty.

"Betty." I whispered. I tried to sit up but a wave of pain shot through me, taking my breath away.

I looked around the room, piecing together where I might be.

I knew I was in a hospital room, and according to the printing on the white board across from my room, it was the same hospital Donny was in, as well as were Polly's twins were born.

In one of the chairs in the room, a figure was huddled. As my eyes finished adjusting from just waking up, I realized who it was.

"Betty?" I asked.

The figure stirred.

"Hm?" She asked, looking up.

"You're awake." She said, as if she didn't expect me to wake up.

"Come here." I said, trying to fight back the tears in my eyes.

She stood up and walked toward me.

I used the remote strapped to the side of my bed to lift it up a bit.

When she was close enough, I grabbed her and wrapped her in my arms.

"I missed you. So much." She said into my shoulder.

I swallowed hard.

"I missed you too."

She pulled her head back and touched her nose to mine.

"I love you, Jughead Jones."

"Betty Cooper, I love you." I whispered back, closing the gap in between us.

I kissed her for the first time in months. It felt different than I remembered. Better.

I put a hand on her lower back to pull her closer, and she eventually just crawled into the hospital bed, straddling me. She put her hands on the back of my neck as we continued to kiss.

The tears rolling down our faces mixed.

Soon, an alarm on my heart monitor went off, causing her to jump off of me.

After a few stunned seconds, a nurse came rushing into my room.

She looked around and then silently went and turned off the monitor.

"Next time, try not to engage in exciting activities." She told me. "Also, that lipstick is so your color, young man."

She winked, and then left.

Betty and I both began to blush.

I reached and took her hand.

"I'm-" I stopped, as I noticed her hand felt strange.

It was wrapped in a bandage.

"What happened?" I asked, carefully unwrapping it.

It revealed scabbing, scraped skin and deep fingernail marks. I gasped softly.

"I'm sorry." She sounded truly ashamed.

"Baby, no, this isn't your fault." I said, pulling her into a hug. "Does your mother know?"

"No. I told her and Polly that I cut my hands on a rail." She admitted.

"Well, when I get out of here, at least let me try to help." I said.

"That sounds great." She said happily.

A knock at the door interrupted us.

The same nurse from before came in, reading the board on the wall. "Well, Mr. Jones, you've been prescribed medication, and you'll have to take it easy for a while, but you're expected to make a full recovery. You have dissolving stitches, so you won't need to come back and see us. Other than that, you can go." She said.

"Thank you." I replied.

"I'll be outside waiting when you get done changing." Betty said, walking toward the door.

"You don't want to help?" I joked.

It hurt to lift my arms too much, so I decided to just put a button down on and leave it unbuttoned.

I looked around the room to make sure I wasn't leaving anything, when I noticed that Betty left her purse and jacket.

Grabbing those, I met her in the hall.

I winced as I put my arm around her, and we walked out of the hospital.

It seemed like everything had changed. And yet, it felt like everything was the same.

After everything that had happened, I was still Jughead, and she was still Betty.

"Have you heard anything from any of the Serpents?" I asked. "Specifically, anything about Donny?"

"Yeah, Joaquin came to your room yesterday. They released Donny but he has to get his stitches removed soon." She said.

"That's good. I was worried about him."

I looked at Betty, and I felt happier than I had in months. I missed her so much it hurt.

Even after everything we'd gone through, my love for her hadn't faded. Maybe we looked different, and maybe we had changed a little bit, but no matter how many times a snake sheds its skin, it's still a snake.

All this seemed to be was us shedding our skin.

We went out to the parking lot and found my truck.

"Where are we going?" I asked as Betty climbed into the driver's seat.

"Home."

The End.

OK SO THIS IS THE FIRST FIC I'VE EVER ACTUALLY FINISHED. AND I REALLY REALLY LIKE IT.

I would be interested in creating a sequel, so please let me know if you'd like that! Thank you so much for your support and for reading Shedding Our Skin.

With love
~A.M.