anaxiphilia // bughead

8

it had been a few weeks since polly had given birth to maya, betty's niece, and betty and jughead were finally ready to go back to new york city. polly, the bright a hubbly sister she was, had decided to throw a "get home safe" kind of party to send them a farewell goodbye. betty had worn a white floral party dress, matched with some nude heels, jughead, however, wore a black trench coat with a white buttoned up t-shirt, along with some black pants. together, they entered into polly and jason's new home where they had a few drinks and talked a bit. "so jughead, when did you move?" polly asked, rocking her baby as she sat down on the couch. he chuckled, realizing how long ago it was "hmm, i think i was around seven or eight, and we moved to toledo," he explained, popping a piece of food in his mouth. "so how long have you met betty?" alice would then ask, smiling as she looked at her granddaughter. "Well, betty moved around eight months ago, and i met her the night she got in new york, so about eight months now," betty leaned onto jughead's shoulder, realizing her stomach felt terrible, and she felt like she was going to puke. it would make sense, considering she ate a little too much. "excuse me," she would blurt out, running to the bathroom to vomit. jughead smiled nervously, walking over calmly to see what had gone wrong. "jug, i'm fine," she reassured, standing up to flush her vomit away, then to gargle the excess out. jughead rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. they sat back down in the living room, where alice would get a cup of water for betty to drink. polly brought betty a small vanilla cupcake to eat, helping her appetite. alice cocked her eyebrow, suspecting a thought that she had, but quickly diminished it, realizing that this was probably just the stomach flu. "okay, well i think that is enough talking and we should move on to the big feast!" jason announced, going over to the kitchen to prepare the dinner table. hal and alice joined him as polly held the baby, helping out. polly looked up to see jughead and betty chuckling and talking, seeing how happy they were together. she brought a faint smile to her face, seeing her little sister having fun. "dinner is ready!" jason's voice called out as a fresh aroma of food filled the air. approaching the dinner table, alice set down a large turkey beside the fresh batch of mashed potatoes, on the other side of the warm turkey, loafs of bread stacked on one another lived in a bowl. alice, hesitant at first, handed the knife to jughead, offering him the first slice of the turkey. jughead, slightly confused, turned his head to betty, his eyes asking if this was okay. her eyes laughed, telling him "juggy, its alright,". his hands, clammy from the anxiety that had been building up, took the knife and slowly dug into the meat from the turkey. smiles brightened up the room, applauding the first cut. as everyone silently welcomed jughead into the family, they all dug into their meals, with winter approaching.

the dinner ended and betty and jughead were sent goodbyes from betty's family. their arms together, they walked silently to jughead's car. betty's head on jughead's shoulder, they drove to new york as snow began to fall. her eyes closing, and his eyes attentive to the road, together they drove to new york. winter was both their favorite season, pure white snow falling to the ground, the trees full of it. it was beauty, but just not as beautiful as her. driving through the thin layer of snow, they finally approached home. her eyes awakening, she lifted her head up, seeing the city covered in white snow. the trees with a lack of leaves, she admired everything. it had been a year since jughead and her first started dating, one hell of a year to be exact, and time had flew so fast. he placed his right hand on top of hers, his warmth traveling through her body. "its beautiful," she whispered, looking around the city filled with snow. he glanced at her, seeing her smile, seeing her grace, her elegance. "its beautiful, yes," he replied, chuckling quietly as she grew in excitement. "but not a beautiful as you," he mumbled as they approached betty's apartment building. "hmm? what was that jug?" she asked, knowing he had mumbled softly. glancing at her for a split second, only to then turn his eyes back to the road, he told her, "huh? Oh nothing."

betty took her unorganized keys from her purse, jumbling through the selection to find the key to her apartment. "where is it?" she repeatedly muttered to herself, finally finding the key a few moments later. she entered the key, unlocking the door to find her little dog greeting her. "aww did you miss me??" she said to the brown dog, making a voice like no other. veronica greeted her with a hug, telling her how much she missed her. "haha, so how was polly's kid?" ronnie asked, picking up a snack from the kitchen. betty scratched her head, thinking about the little girl she met in riverdale. "she's gorgeous, definitely a charmer," betty joked, sitting down in the living room. "hey betty, a emergency popped up in the office, i'll be right back, and nice to see you veronica," he briefly announced, opening the door and running to his car. "well, uh," they both said together, slightly confused with what had just happened. "crap, not again," betty quickly murmured, running to the bathroom to throw up once again. flushing away the waste, she covered her stomach, as it felt slightly empty. ronnie gave betty a concerned face, looking how sick she looked, "hey, whats wrong with you?" she asked, helping her get to the couch to rest. "ah, uh, its nothing ronnie, i just get a bit sick every now and then," she answered, getting her self in a sloppy, comfortable position. "betty, you should really get this checked, you look terrible," she explained, resting her hand on the blonde's forehead to check her temperature. "V, i'm okay, really," betty would attempt to reassure, turning her head to see veronica's face. "here, i'll go to the grocery store, what do you want?" veronica asked, really making sure she was okay. betty took a trip through her mind, finding ideas full of food, ranging to sweet to salty, all she wanted was odd food cravings. "ah, well uh, maybe some dessert," she started, sitting up to have a clearer mind. she turned her head to the kitchen, scanning it to see what food was available already. "chips, lots and lots of chips," she continued once more, scratching her head as she scrambled for answers. "and pickles," she finalized, wanting a salty touch to her savory desserts. as veronica wrote down betty's requests, she added one last extra thing, something that betty definitely did not ask for. a pregnancy test. "alright i'll be back B, dont do anything stupid," veronica advised as the dog cuddled against betty's legs. betty silently rested her head against the throw pillow, falling asleep.

veronica opened the door, trying to avoid it to squeak to avoid waking up her roommate. her plastic bags were set down on the kitchen counter, she searched for the pregnancy test, hiding it in her bag to save. walking over to the couch, she nudged the blonde to wake her up, telling her the food was here. her bright eyes lit up, getting up from her nap to run over to the kitchen, scrambling through the groceries. she took out the chips, opening them up almost immediately to stuff a few chips in her mouth. "so good," a muffled sound moaned, tasting and savoring the food. taking out the ice cream, she quickly grabbed a spoon to take a scoop of ice cream, melting it into her mouth to help chow down the chips. veronica, amazed to see her best friend act this way, carefully put away the rest of the groceries. "betty, how long has the sickness been?" she asked, scared to ruin her good mood. betty's eyes darted its attention to veronica, placing her handful of food onto the kitchen counter, swallowing the last of her food. "uhh, maybe like a few days," she replied, slightly weirded out. "betty, are you late?" veronica would then continue to investigate, sitting down at the bar chairs in the kitchen. betty's hands increased in sweat, realizing what she was implying. "ronnie, we were safe," she told her, pulling her hair. "betty, it doesnt always work," veronica explained. betty bit her lip, hoping and praying she wasnt actually pregnant. "i have a pregnancy test, if you want to know for sure," veronica searched through her purse to pull out a pregnancy test, offering betty to take it. her blue eyes, tempted, she grabbed it, walking over to the bathroom silently. taking a few minutes, betty walked out of the bathroom, full of anxiety. "so?" veronica asked, then to realize it was a little to early. betty sat down in the living room, avoiding to look at the test. she took a deep breath, closing her eyes to ease herself. opening her eyes, looking down to read the results, she read them. "PREGNANT" it read. "ronnie what the hell am i gonna do?" she asked, tears dwelling in her eyes. "i dont think i'm ready," she sobbed quietly, veronica leaning in to hug her, comfort her best friend. "you, betty cooper, will do great," she whispered, helping her anxiety clear up. "what do i tell jughead?" she asked, her heart speeding up as she thought about her boyfriend.

deciding to go tell him, trying to get it out of the way, veronica drove her best friend to jughead's office. her palms sweating like crazy, they finally approached the office place. she looked down to see her stomach, to see the little child she would be bringing into the world. looking back up, she walked in, her stomach taking a turn. the office was empty, filled with the sound of silence. she inhaled the air around her, exhaling the anxiety out, she twisted the door nob to her boyfriend's private office. toni, her body ontop of his, her lips placed against his, she saw them. "what the hell?" her eyes stung, filling itself up with tears. her throat closing up, making her lungs ask for air. "betty?" he called out, realizing his world had fallen apart. "lord, im begging you please, dont take that sinner away from me," her mind thought, frozen in that state as he fought his co-worker to get off of him. "please dont cry tonight, i still love you baby," he thought, struggling to get out of his situation. "please still be in love with me," they both thought, tears dwelling up in their eyes. his vision getting better, his heart falling apart, she finally said, "someone will love you, but someone isnt me" and walked away with the tears streaming down her face. her eyes, dried from all the tears that she cried. her throat, so dry to avoid anyone to be aware of her pain and suffering. her hands, trembling in worry that would be her last memory of him, her soulmate. her heart, torn up where all her scars had been healed. she shut the door behind her, rubbing her stomach, realizing the situation. tears falling to the ground, she found veronica standing in front of her, her arms open. betty sobbing, she hugged her best friend, her wounds opening up, and new ones opening up. "he-he was," she broke her words. "i know, betty its okay," she ran her hand through her hair, reassuring everything would be alright. "why'd he have to go?" she whispered, her words breaking apart every time her voice spoke. "i cant even breathe," she choked, the tears falling faster. "he was there, and now he isnt," she continued, her whole world shattering into pieces. "ronnie, it was like i blinked and he was gone," her voice shattered, falling to the ground. "my baby doesnt even have a father now," she cried, her hands and knees shaking. "baby?" a familiar voice called out, a voice shaking and in pain. the two best friends turned their heads seeing the face that had broke betty's heart.