Betty was dancing at her first pep-rally ever tonight.
Jughead had just moved schools to South Side High, but as her best friend had promised to come watch anyways.
*
Betts🤩: you're coming right?
Jugs🤪: of course I'm coming, Betts, I can't wait to see you, xx
Betts🤩: great! I'm scared, glad you'll be there to comfort me, x
Jugs🤪: some of my new friends want to come too, can they? x
Betts🤩: of course! can wait to meet them! Tell them I say hi, x
Jugs🤪: I'll see you later, bubs, love you.
Betts🤩: love you too.
*
The routine Betty was doing was beautiful, Jughead thought. He honestly couldn't keep his eyes off her.
"Jones, we're thinking about heading out, you coming?" asked Toni, although he didn't notice.
"Jones? Hey!" She waved a hand in front of his face "JUGHEAD!" that caught his attention.
"Huh?" He asked, turning away from Betty briefly. "I said, we're thinking about heading out, you coming?" She said, exaggerating the words massively. Jughead rolled his eyes and huffed, still looking away from her. "No, I'm watching Betty and walking her home after the game" he said, crossing his arms.
"You literally dragged us all the way to the Northside because you have a little crush on a cheerleader?" Sweet Pea said, rolling his eyes.
"Shut up Sweet Pea, you don't know anything about her!" Jughead said, "and I do not have a crush on her" he added defensively, moving his gaze from his tall classmate over to his blonde cheerleader again.
"Pssht" Sweet Pea brushed him off, walking over to his motorcycle, leaving Toni and Jughead. "You should tell her tonight, I'm pretty sure she feels the same way," Toni said, hugging him briefly before leaving as well.
*
Betty watched Jughead as she danced. He smiled at her, giving her a thumbs up. She grinned at him, biting her lip.
Later she saw him hug a short girl with pink stripes in her hair and her grin disappeared. Her blood boiled and hot jealousy flooded her veins. Her fists clenched and she bit her lip again to keep from crying.
Why would he like me?
She thought, finishing her dance. She quickly ran off the field and headed to the bleachers, while the other cheerleaders went to the stands to cheer for their school team. As she got there she sat down and tried to calm her breathing.
Horrible timing to have a panic attack, Betts, she thought, clenching fists impossibly hard.
Her vision blurred, her breathing got faster and shorter. Suddenly she felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around her and she breathed in Jughead's familiar scent. He unclenched both her fists and intertwined her fingers with his to keep them from digging into her palms.
He shushed her calmly, rocking them back and forth on the ground. "Shh, Betts, it's okay, baby, it's okay,"
Jughead was all too familiar with panic attacks, he'd had his fair share off them, so when he saw her run off the field, struggling to breathe and stumbling over her own feet, he swiftly followed. The only difference between his own and her panic attacks were that right now she had someone to comfort her and hold her. He never did. He was always alone. He had his first panic attack when his mom grabbed Jellybean and headed to Toledo. His most recent one was when his the woman from child services told him that he had to move out of the Andrews' home and to a foster family in the south side, making him leave both Betty and Archie behind.
Tears were streaming down Betty's face, as she struggled to breathe still. Jughead moved his hands from hers and reached up to cup her face. He made her look at him. He took one of her hands and placed it on his own chest, over his heart.
"Feel my breathing, Betts, follow me, okay? Can you do that?" He asked her.
She tried her best to even out her breathing, following his. It went a lot easier then. They sat there for a few minutes, breathing together. When she was breathing normally again, he pulled her to his chest and hugged her close. "It's okay now, Betts, I've got you"
She held on to him for dear life, breathing in his scent of slight cigarettes and cologne. She loved his smell.
She pulled back and looked at him. He dipped his head and kissed her softly on the lips for a few seconds before embracing her in another one of his bearhugs, holding her tight.
Her 'thank you' was muffled by his shirt. "What? Why are you thanking me?" He asked, frowning at her.
"You helped me when I was having an anxiety attack, most people probably wouldn't know what to do, but you helped me, Jug"
He shrugged, "nothing I haven't experienced before"
She froze at his words, "this happens to you a lot?"
"I've had my air share of panic attacks, Betty, it's nothing" he brushed her question off like it was nothing. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you, Jug, I should've known"
"I didn't tell you, so there was no way of you knowing anyways. And it's fine now, Betts, it's calmed a little" he assured her, kissing the side of her head affectionately.
"I think I'm in love with you, Jug" She said unsure. "I love you, Betts, nothing'll change that, whether you love me or not, I'll always love you" he breathed, pulling her impossibly closer to him again. "Who was that girl you hugged earlier?" Betty asked quietly, fisting his shirt in her hands.
"Toni," he said, "and I'm pretty sure she would be more interested in you than in me, fyi" he chuckled. Realization crossed her features and she blushed.
"Oh" she mumbled, burying her face in his chest, embarrassed. "C'mon, bubs, I'll walk you home," he said, standing up and reaching a hand to help her up.
*
He tightened his hold on her hand as they neared her house, before stopping short. She faced him confused, a frown adorning her beautiful features.
"I should probably do this here, so that I don't get mama Cooper up in my business later" he joked, cupping her face.
He leaned in and kissed her on her lips firmly. They kissed for a while, before she broke it for air, he pecked her lips once more, before dropping his hands back to his sides again. She sighed deeply at the loss of affection.
"I'll walk you to school in the morning, you start before me" He said, grabbing her hand again and waking her to her doorstep, where he kissed her sweetly again before leaving with a smile on his lips where hers had just been.
___________________________
an: today was my last day of school, woooo! I'm going to training camp in Bulgaria on Saturday, so I'm updating now. Idk if there'll be as many updates as usual for the two weeks I'm there, but I'll try! Hope you enjoyed!!
