Caught In The Storm

Chapter 16

Veronica's POV
Since Archie and I are closest to Betty's house, it's our job to get the Register off her driveway. Archie drives as fast as he can and it only takes us three minutes to get there. Once we finally get there, my heart sinks.
There's no newspaper on her driveway. Someone must have already took it in. What if Jack already saw it?
"Arch, this is so bad!" I say, panicked.
"We have to tell Jughead and Cheryl" he says.
I take out my phone and dial Cheryl's number. Archie does the same with Jughead.

Cheryl's POV
I look down and see that Veronica's calling me.
"Hey" I say.
"There's no newspaper in her driveway! Someone already took it in!" she says, panicked.
My heart sinks.
"Maybe they didn't get one" I suggest.
"There's one at everyone's house except theirs. I'm pretty sure someone - either Alice or Jack - came out and got it" she tells me.
"Oh my god" is all I can say.

Jughead's POV
My phone rings and I see that it's Archie calling me.
I pick up the phone and hit answer.
"There's no newspaper in Betty's driveway!" he says, panicked. "Someone in her house already brought it in!"
"Maybe they didn't get one" I say.
"There's one at everyone's house except theirs. Either Alice or Jack brought it in" he responds.
"What should I do? Should I tell Betty?" I ask.
"She's going to find out sooner or later. Let me ask Veronica what she thinks" he responds.
I can hear a hushed conversation, but I can't make out what they're saying.
"She thinks you should tell her" he finally says.
My heart sinks. I don't want to.
"Okay" I respond and hang up.
Betty's out in the living room. I walked to the kitchen when I saw that Archie was calling.
"Betty, we have to talk" I say, meeting her on the couch.
I can see the concern in her eyes.
"I want to start off by saying that I had absolutely nothing to do with this. I swear. And I don't think that your mom did either. But someone ran a story in the Register...and it said that you're calling off your engagement" I tell her.
She immediately starts crying.
"Who could've run that? Almost no one knew! What if Jack's already seen it?" she sobs.
"That's the thing. Veronica, Archie, and Cheryl were going to get them off of everyone's driveway. But when they got to yours, it was already gone. He's probably already seen it" I say.
Her eyes widen and she starts to cry even harder, a look of worry on her face.
She looks down at the ground.
"You know, I never wanted to come back to Riverdale. Jack and my mom made me. And now I'm in a huge mess because I gave in. Because I reunited with you. Because..." she cuts off.
"Because?" I ask.
She looks up at me.
"Because I still love you" she says.
"I love you too, Betty" I respond.
It just makes her cry harder. 
"It's going to be okay, I promise" I assure her.
She falls into me, and I wrap my arms around her.

Betty's POV
Laying here in his arms, I feel safe. Like my world actually isn't crashing down around me. But then my phone rings. And the name on the screen reads Jack.
I look up at Jughead.
"What should I do?" I ask.
"You're going to have to talk to him at some point" he says.
I sit up and wipe my tears away, then hit answer.
"Do you want to explain this headline to me? Is it true" he practically yells.
I want to start sobbing again, but I keep it together.
"Jack..." I start.
"Betty...is it true?" he asks sternly.
"Yes" I almost whisper.
"Yes? And let me guess, you told Jughead" he says.
"Jack..." I start again.
I'm crying.
"Where are you?" he asks.
I don't answer.
"Betty. Talk to me. Answer me!" He yells.
"I don't know who ran the story" I say. "It wasn't Jughead, it wasn't-"
"I know who it was" he cuts me off.
"Who?" I whisper, barely able to speak.
"Me" he says. "There was no chemistry between us, Betty. You were only half there. I wanted to know if it was coming. I hacked into the Register and ran the story, because there was no way you could escape telling me. I didn't think you'd say it was true"
"I'm sorry" is all I can manage to say.
"I'll be out of your house within the next hour. Don't come. I don't want to see you" he says.
And then he hangs up.
I stare straight ahead, tears rolling down my face.
"He's leaving" I say. "He's going back home. To California. We broke up"
"Are you okay?" Jughead asks.
"I will be" I respond.
"I'm here for you. Always" he says.
"I know" I say. "Can I stay here today? I don't want to risk seeing him"
"Yeah, of course" he responds. "Do you want anything? Food, a drink?"
"No, I think I'm just going to go back to sleep" I say.
I lay down on the couch and close my eyes. I feel Jughead pick me up and walk me to his bedroom. He lays me down on the bed, and gives me a kiss on the forehead.
I give a little smile, then drift off into a deep sleep.

‼️IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE‼️
So school is starting in less than two weeks and I'm probably gonna be really stressed and have a lot to do, so that being said, I'm taking a week off of uploading. I'm gonna get a bunch of chapters prewritten so that when school starts I can continue to upload consistently every other day. I'm just afraid that if I don't do this, I'm gonna be up late trying to finish chapters and then they won't be very good because I'm rushing and I'll be super tired the next day. I really hope you guys understand.

Also, I changed the cover and title of this book!! The old ones were super boring and uncreative so I redid it and I love the new ones!

DID YOU GUYS SEE LILIS POST FOR COLE OMG ITS SO CUTE I LOVE IT THEY'RE THE CUTEST

I'll probably be back next Friday (August 11th) so I'll see you guys then, I love you all💓💓💓Vote if you're glad that Jack and Betty broke up because now Bughead can happen!!