"Come on, Jug, please!" Betty begged. "There's something in that cabin and it has something to do with Jason's murder, I just know it." Jughead was leaning against a desk in the Blue and Gold room, arms crossed in pointed skepticism. Betty was pacing up and down the length of the room, tugging in a frustrated way at the cuffs of her shirt. "Polly said she remembered Jason said something about it before... well."
"Before he died." Jughead said, filling the silence. Betty nodded, flinching at the last word. He was just a kid, and someone shot him, maybe in cold blood. It made her feel sick to the stomach. "But say we do go to the cabin, what do we do if someone's there? What if they have a gun? What if you get hurt? Is it really worth it? Just to visit some creepy cabin the woods?" He grabbed her swinging hand, pulling her towards him. Her fists were clenched, fingers curled, nails digging deep into her palms. She tried in vain to hide the scars. But the reddened finger nail shaped marks engraved into her skin didn't evade his gaze. "Betty, I thought you stopped this." he said, unfurling her hands. Worry passed through him as sharp and defined as an electric shock. Tears stung Betty's eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks.
"It's just seeing Polly locked up there and knowing there's a killer out there..." he voice trailed off, "It's just scary knowing that we are that insignificant, that we can be picked off that easily." Jughead pulled her close, kissing her on the forehead.
"You are many things, Betty Cooper, but insignificant is not one of them." she looked into his eyes and the usual electric current ran down her spine at the look of passionate honesty on his face. She held him around his neck, closing her eyes pressing her cheek to his neck. She could feel his heat, hear his pulse. "And I promise I won't let anyone hurt you." He said gently, his voice a mere whisper, it felt like it was for just for her. It made her feel special. Little did she know he was thinking the same thing; Betty Cooper was gorgeous, she could have any guy, but she had chosen Jughead.
"So does that mean you'll come?" Betty asked, placing her hands on his face.
Jughead sighed, "Wow, way to guilt trip." But he was laughing. "Fine I'll come but only because I'm not a hypocrite."
The woods were blanketed in a smothering fog, the mist enveloping Betty and Jughead. The creaking groan of swaying pine trees and the rabid hum of the water smashing into the river bank filling the air. Betty squeezed Jughead's hands, her breathing short and inconsistent. Jughead squeezed her palm back. "You sure you want to do this? I mean this looks like a scene out of any psychological thriller." Betty breathed out slowly.
"Sure..." She whispered, feeling as if any loud sounds might awaken some dormant monster.
"Well, into the belly of the beast." Jughead said, his breath hovering as delicate mist in the cold autumnal air as he watched the Riverdale woods with mounting trepidation. Hands still woven together tightly, they began to walk into the morose woods, they frost coated pine needles crunching beneath their feet. The heath land began to rise steeply, making the hike to the cabin even harder. By the time they reached the peak of the hill, they were both breathing heavily, sweat gathering at their temples.
Out of the blue, Betty began to laugh hysterically. It wasn't a forced laugh, just rich, gorgeous euphoria. She doubled over with a crippling fit of the giggles. "Oh- my- God!" She gasped between peels of laughter.
"Something funny?" Jughead wheezed, flopping onto a nearby boulder.
Betty wiped a tear from her cheek, "We're-" But she burst into laughter again. "We're a hot mess!" she shouted, clutching stomach as she chuckled hard.
It was the sheer silliness of what Betty had just said that made Jughead start to laugh. Her mirth was catching, soon he was thumping the ground, howling with glee. Jughead's clear amusement only spurred Betty's own merriment.
Finally, the hilarity of the moment subsided and the two were lying on the forest floor, watching the other. "You're so beautiful..." Jughead breathed, watching as Betty bit her bottom lip.
Her cheeks flushed pink, "So are you. I mean hot or handsome or whatever..." Betty said, her face darkening. Jughead sat up as Betty instinctively moved towards him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, arms around his neck as his moved around her hips.
"I thought we were supposed to looking for a killer in a creepy abandoned log cabin in the woods or are you over that?" Jughead grinned.
"Killer can wait, this can't." She whispered as she pressed her lips to his. Not caring about the Blossoms, or Alice Cooper, or the killer, or the gunshot, the cabin. All they cared about was closing all the gaps between their veins, sealing their own secret bond.
