Steady Breaths

I n B e t w e e n

Jughead's POV
"Here I want you to get to know my friends a bit better." I say to Jellybean after thinking for a while on what to do.
"Are they the ones over there or over there?" She points to a group of serpents, then to a group of northsiders.
"Neither, they are the ones over there." I point to a table perfectly in between the two vastly different groups.
"Are they like a combination of the two groups?" She asks as we approach the table.
"Yeah I suppose so, hey guys as a few of you know this is Jellybean, I'm on parent duty today." I chuckle as I walk up to the gang.
Jellybean gives a small wave to everyone.
"Actually it's just JB." She corrects me.

Right. I forgot that she's grown up since I last saw her.

"Hi nice to meet you, I'm Archie." Archie kindly breaks the awkward silence.
"I'm Kevin"
"Hi I'm Cheryl."
"And I'm Toni."
"I'm Betty"
"And I'm Veronica." Veronica finishes off the little introductions.
"Wait as in Veronica Lodge?" JB asks. Oh god no no this is bad.
"Um yeah that's me." Veronica says with a confused look sweeping over her face.

Jellybean suddenly turns to me, looking rather hurt.
"You sit with a Lodge? You know what they did to us, to Mom and Dad, to you and me! How could you sit with someone like that!" For 13 year old she was pretty mature, she wasn't stupid, she knew who the lodges where, and what they did to us.

Veronica's brow furrows slightly.
"What do you mean?" She asks.
"Why don't you tell her Jug." Jellybean states as she grits her teeth.
I hesitantly turn to Veronica.
"When we were younger, obviously Jellybean and Mom moved away, there were multiple reasons for it, such as my dads issue with alcohol, my moms bad attitude, and umm your dad well he was doing business with my dad and ended up taking away 3/4 of Mom and Dads money in the bank. I'm not sure how he did it but we decided Jellybean and Mom would go off of what was left and Dad and I would live at the trailer park." As I explain her face drops.

I know how much she genuinely hates her father. She knows what he's done but I always refrained from telling her, in fear that she'd freak out...like how's she's freaking out now. I watch as she lets out the breath that she was holding the entire time.
"I...I...I'm so-"
"Let me guess you're so sorry and you wish that there was something you could do. Your father is a criminal and he had every right to be thrown into jail, the rest of you pathetic family should've gone with him-"
"Jellybean that's enough!" I raise my voice suddenly, and everyone goes quiet.
"I was just a kid, I am sorry that I couldn't have done anything, I was so shielded from this awful world. I was your age when I first learnt overheard one of his meetings, I heard the word kill and I ran off, too scared to hear anymore. Then 2 years ago he was thrown in jail. You're right he had every reason to be. I just wish people would stop looking at me like I'm a criminal too." Veronica then stands up and rushes off.

I turn to Jellybean.
"You shouldn't have said that, Arch do you what me to go talk to her?"
"It's alright, I'll take care of her." Archie then gets up and goes off in the direction that Veronica had gone.

"God this place is a mess, I know about the murders here, now this whole mobster thing, you joining the serpents Jug, who knows what will happen next, maybe you'll get your girlfriend over here pregnant." Jellybean laughs but we all go silent.

She shouldn't know, not yet.
"Let's hope not." Betty giggles nervously.
I give her a sympathetic look and mouth the words 'thank you' to her. She simply smiles a weak smile and continues talking with Jellybean. I wish with all my hopes that she'll be able to smile once more like the old Betty Cooper. Her cheeks would probably hurt from all the bright smiles she'd give. I long for that.

A/N for all you bugheads out there! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Well be seeing more of Jellybean in upcoming chapters! As always a huge thank you for reading! Xx