Based off of the Bughead cuddle shown in the 2x04 promo❤️
It had been weeks since Riverdale's very own black-hooded criminal had taken his first cold-blooded shot. Weeks since Fred Andrews had narrowly escaped death at the fault of the harsh metal bullet. And months since anyone in Riverdale last felt safety in their once-beloved, strawberry milkshake town. The events that had taken place snatched away their hopes of a newfound safety after Betty Cooper's grand speech at the mayor's jubilee. Events like the shooting of Fred Andrews, the killing of Geraldine Grundy and the shooting of Moose and almost, Midge. No one felt safe. Especially Betty Cooper.
Betty laid on the floor of Archie's bedroom, staring up at the blue ceiling which was now darkened by the absence of light. It seemed everywhere had a great absence of light nowadays, literally and metaphorically. Thoughts ran around the blonde's head, trying to escape her cascading, loose strands of dimmed, golden hair, preventing her from sleep. She sighed deeply and turned her head to the side.
Jughead's sleeping face came into her line of view, causing a small smile to stretch onto her strawberry lips. His hat remained glued to his head, as it always did, a few black curls escaping the front. Betty mentally traced his multiple moles in a game of dot-to-dot on the boy's slightly tanned face. She felt Jughead move his arm in his sleep and subconsciously wrap it around the front of his girlfriend's waist, gently pulling her closer to his body. The simple action made Betty's smile stretch even further in affection at Jughead's attachment to her, even during his slumber. However, the smile soon faded as she remembered earlier on in the day, and how she shouldn't feel this way in his embrace. Even with his strong, toned arm around her, keeping her close, she still felt... unsafe. Unsafe of the unknown.
Blinking the thoughts away, Betty looked towards Archie's bed to find her two best friends intertwined with each other. Veronica's shiny black hair splayed across the pillow as her and Archie faced each other. Their limbs were tangled together in a web of comfort and intimacy. Betty felt a sense of happiness inside her heart at the fact that they'd found each other. They'd all found each other. Betty couldn't say for sure if Archie and Veronica were each others soulmates, but she knew Jughead was hers.
They were all sleeping at Archie's house that night, none of them wanting to be alone in the dark. Not after Jughead was jumped at Southside High, or Riverdale's students were all being terrorised by some ruthless killer with a gun, or Betty's receiving of an unnerving message from the killer himself. Granted the higher fraction of those problems were being kept as secrets by Riverdale's sweethearts, they still made them feel unsafe.
It had been earlier that day when Betty had seen the thin brown parcel on her doorstep. She'd seen one almost identical to the present one when the killer sent the letter to her parents to print in their newspaper, along with Fred Andrews' blood-soaked wallet and Miss Grundy's discarded heart-shaped sunglasses. Except this one wasn't labelled 'Cooper' in block capital letters. It was labelled 'Betty'.
Inside the parcel was a single piece of paper. The paper was some sort of message, but she didn't know exactly what the message was. Single numbers and intricate shapes scattered the page, and those formal rows had been haunting her all day.
Betty had sat there for hours in the Blue and Gold office, trying to figure out what it meant, but she couldn't. It wasn't as simple as she'd hoped. Something about the situation sent chills down her spine and made her blood run cold. Somehow, she was at the centre of these killings. Betty could feel it in her bones. Deep down, she knew this was personal. It was like this man was committing these crimes... for her.
All she could think about was the man with the mask, gun in hand, terrorising the people of her town. Terrorising her friends and family. Terrorising her.
The man ran around her brain, jumping from cell to cell. His green eyes burned through her skull, emphasising the holes in the mask. Figures of the code swarmed in the pools of her mind, blurring in and out of her vision. Betty's body shook with fear as the killer reached up and slowly tore his mask away. It revealed a blurry face with a sharp-toothed, taunting grin to match his depersonalised orbs. He stared at her, a predatory gleam radiating from his sockets. Suddenly, he lunged forward and-
Betty shot up, quietly panting in shock, with wide eyes and a confused look on her face. Relieved, she brought her hand up to her chest to try and slow her breathing as she realised she was still in Archie's room with her friends and boyfriend. Speaking of Jughead, he was now also awake from Betty's sudden jolt.
"Hey," he spoke tiredly, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder and sitting up. "You okay, Betty?"
"Um, yeah." Betty gulped, leaning into his touch, "it was just a nightmare. Sorry."
"It's okay. Don't apologise." Jughead began carefully rubbing her back, bringing his other hand to rub across her knee.
Betty grinned a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, continuing to look around. Logically, she knew the killer wasn't here, and that it was just the four of them in that room, and Mr Andrews in his own room. But a part of her, the shivering part, was consumed by fear and the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he'd got in there with them. Jughead noticed this.
"Betts."
Betty felt Jughead remove his hand from her knee and bring it up to her face, cupping the blonde's chin and making her look at him.
"It's okay, I'm here. You're okay. You're safe." He gently whispered, searching her eyes. Betty nodded timidly, giving him a relieved smile as she realised he was right. In that moment, she was safe.
Satisfied, Jughead wrapped his arm around her side and tenderly laid them back down on the mattress.
"Try to get some sleep, okay?" Jughead breathed, bringing them into a spooning position with his arm protectively locked around her. Betty nodded once again, feeling somewhat comforted by the Jones boy's actions this time.
But she couldn't sleep. She knew Jughead would die before he let anything bad happen to her. And that's what she was afraid of. He protected her. And she had to protect him. Which is why he couldn't know about the message. At least, not yet. Betty would keep him safe. She had to.
