a/n Here is a little fic I wrote post 1x11 to help myself find closure.
Betty ran out of Pop's, her mind racing with the new information about F.P. But the first thing on her mind was finding Jughead, she had to make sure he was okay. She had to let him know that she did believe him and trust him and that she hadn't had a part in their friends' plan. Mostly, she had to tell him that she loved him. Betty decided to check the trailer next.
She practically sprinted the whole way, finally arriving with her lungs burning. She was sweaty and disheveled, but she didn't care. Her only concern was Jughead. Betty hesitantly pushed open the trailer door. Her heart dropped when she found it dark inside. She had been so sure this was where Jughead would come. She started to leave when she heard a noise come from somewhere in the darkness. Turning on the flashlight on her phone, Betty found the light switch and flicked the lights on. She gasped softly at the state of the trailer. Everything had been torn apart, she guessed it had happened during the police search.
Betty's eyes scanned desperately around the small space until she finally found the boy she was looking for. Her heart dropped again at the sight of him. He was curled up in the corner, hands covering his face, and shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.
"Jug..." Betty rushed over and sat next to him, she found herself suddenly unable to say any of the things she had wanted to say to him. What words could possibly make his pain go away? To her surprise, no words ended up being necessary. At her voice, Jughead looked up, tears staining his face. Pain was evident in his expression, but also something that looked like relief. When she sat down, he threw his arms around her and buried his face into her neck. Betty immediately wrapped her arms around her distraught boyfriend and started stroking his back. She didn't shush him or tell him that it was going to be alright, she just let him cry.
Jughead's sobs grew louder as he finally let out all of the pain he had been feeling recently. Betty knew he wasn't just crying about the events of that night. He was crying for his family. For the family that he had thought he was getting back. For the family that he might never get. He was crying because his father had let him down again and he couldn't handle it. Betty found herself crying with him, unable to bear listening to his raw pain.
Finally, when Jughead had cried himself dry, he pulled slightly away but kept his arms wrapped around Betty. She reached up and brushed the remaining tears off of his cheeks, searching his expression for any hint that he was upset at her.
"Juggie," Betty started to explain, but he shook his head to quiet her and reached a hand up to stroke her cheek.
"I'm sorry Bets, I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You aren't responsible for their actions, and I know you had good intentions." Jughead's voice was raspy from all of the crying.
"I did, but I still shouldn't have lied to you. You were just so happy and I didn't want to be the one to take that away from you." Betty's eyes filled up with more tears, remember his happy smile when talking about it being important for their families to get to know one another. That moment seemed worlds away.
"We have to be honest with one another Betty, this town is filled with so much deceit and lies. We have to be able to count on one another." Jughead dropped his hands and looked away from her, sadness filling his expression once again. Betty knew what the unsaid rest of that sentence was. They had to be able to count on one another because they couldn't trust anyone else in their lives. Betty rushed to tell Jughead what Archie and Veronica had told him.
"Jughead, your dad was framed. I ran into Archie and Veronica when I was looking for you, they told me that there was no lock box in the closet when they searched this place. It was planted after they left. Someone is framing your dad for Jason's murder, he's innocent and we are going to make damn sure everyone knows that." Betty watched a series of emotions flash across Jughead's face as he absorbed the information.
