Jellybean Jones

Chapter 36: I Love You

Jughead POV
Dad and Jellybean were on the couch when I got home. She was asleep on his shoulder. She stirred at the sound of the door opening. I went to sit beside her. "Hi Juggy." She said quietly. "Hey guys." I replied. Jellybean snuggled into my side. "How ya feeling?" I asked her. I felt her shrug. I wrapped my arm around her small shoulders. "I gotta go get ready for work, I got called in. Will you guys be alright, Jug?" Dad said. "Yeah, we'll be fine Dad." I told him.

He got ready and left, leaving me and Jellybean alone. Pigwidgeon jumped up onto the couch and curled up in Jellybean's lap. The small cat was still just as affectionate as when we first got him. She stroked him. "How are you actually feeling?" I asked her, now that we were alone. "Tired." She said blandly. "Not sick at all?" I followed up. "A little, yeah." She told me. I never got sick. Like, ever. My little sister, on the other hand, could barely go two months without getting sick. I hated it when she wasn't well.

"How are you feeling about the other thing?" I asked hesitantly, referring to Seth. I felt her hot tears dampen my shirt. She cried silently. "I'm not impressed, to say the least." She said bitterly. I sighed and ran my hand through her long, black hair. I felt her nuzzle her head into my chest. I felt bad that Jellybean didn't really have another girl to talk to about things like this. I felt bad that she didn't have a Mother that would actually know how to handle this. I always tried my best, but I knew that there were things that I just wouldn't be able to be for my little sister and I absolutely hated it.

Jellybean POV
Jughead had eventually calmed me down, I can't really remember what happened at the time as I was still rather feverish. The rest of the week had dragged on. I kept seeing Seth and Jules together and as much as I tried to ignore it, I knew that he was hanging out with me and Rosie less and less. I tried to brush it off and pretend I was fine with it. Rosie knew I wasn't, she wasn't either.

Today was Monday. Monday morning, unfortunately. Fortunately, however, we found out the roles for the play today. Jughead had just dropped me off and I saw Seth. He was usually with Jules as they both always got to school before me. We walked over to each other. "Hi." I said plainly. Seth looked at me. He looked near tears. If this was about Jules I was going to snap. "What's the matter?" I asked.

I noticed that I was also near tears. It had only been a week, but I missed Seth so much. I missed him so much. I felt a few stray tears leave my eyes. I quickly blinked more back and wiped them off. "I'm sorry." He said suddenly and started to cry as well. I had never seen him cry. Before I knew it, he had pulled me into a tight hug. "I only did it to protect you, I swear. I didn't think I could go on any longer, but now that she's gone, I can finally tell you." He said quickly.

I was beyond confused. I pulled away from Seth and stared at him. "I have no absolutely no idea what the hell that was about." I said sincerely. The warning bell rang shrilly. We stayed to hurry to class. "I'll tell you during flex, okay?" Seth told me and wiped his face off on his sleeve. I nodded. Luckily, flex was the second block of the day and Rosie wasn't here, so we went into mine and Rosie's spare room. I just wanted to know what was happening and I wanted to know now.

Jughead POV
I walked down the nearly abandoned hall with Betty. We had a free block and were going to the student lounge. It was empty when we sat down on the old couch. "Jug?" Betty said nervously. "What's the matter?" I asked her quickly. She bit her lip. "What if he's not dead?" She asked suddenly. "What if who's not dead, Betty?" I questioned. She played anxiously with her hair and looked down at her lap. I protectively wrapped my arm around her.

"Chic." She finally answered. Chic had seemed to have happened forever ago. Hal, Mr. Cooper, or best known as The Black Hood, had killed him late one night and I never gave it a second thought. "I don't think he's alive, Betts. And if he is, well, I'll kill that son of a bitch myself." I told her. She leaned against me. "What made you think of him all of a sudden?" I questioned. "I don't know, Juggy. That's what makes me nervous." She explained. Though I highly doubted Chic was still alive, I wanted to comfort Betty. Because she was almost always right.

Jellybean POV
"So?" I asked impatiently. "What the hell was this past week?" I proceeded, my voice breaking. I was trying be mad, I swear. Seth stared at me. "I know Jules was being mean to you." He began. "I know she said she would kill you." I flinched. "Sorry. She said that, well uh, if I didn't, well, If I didn't date her, cause she knows that we um, well, you know, she would hurt you. And she said that she'd figure it out if I told you and I just, I didn't know what to do!"

I shut my eyes, trying to process what Seth had just said. "I'm sorry, gosh am I ever sorry. I wanted to protect you, I just didn't know how." His voice was comforting in my ears. I didn't look, I didn't want to. I didn't know what to say. "Where is she?" I finally asked. "Oh, she got arrested or something for underage drug use." He explained. "Dumb bitch." I said quietly. Seth laughed lightly. It was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry." He said again.

I opened my eyes. I wasn't mad. How could I be mad? I got lost in his deep, green eyes. I couldn't look away. I was at a loss for words. I wasn't sure how to explain what I was feeling. I'm not sure how the next thing that took place even happened, but before I knew it, we had both leaned closer to each other. I closed my eyes once more as I felt his lips on mine. I felt his hand lightly caress my cheek. It only lasted a moment. We pulled away from each other. I had to physically hold back a childish grin. "I understand why you did it. I'm not mad." I finally said. He heard the words. They felt strange coming out of my mouth, like they weren't supposed to.

We stared at each other for what felt like minutes. We had both caved and started to grin wildly. I had just kissed Seth Hill. I had actually just kissed Seth Hill. Jughead was going to freak! But I didn't plan on telling him. "I think," I began, choosing my words carefully. "I think I kinda like you." I said quietly, my grin was replaced with a small smile, my dimples clearly visible. Seth looked me right in then eyes. "I think I kinda love you." He said. It was at this point that nothing else mattered. Not any of my completely messed up life. Not Jules. Not Jackson. Not Ryan. Not Mum. Not my audition. No, not anything at all. Because I had just been kissed. I had just been told 'I love you'.

Jughead POV
Lunch came quickly. I was worried about Betty. She had went home sick after claiming to not be feeling well. We all knew that this sudden worry and sickness must be about something more. I couldn't stop being excited for the end of the day though. Jellybean was figuring out if she got the role of Wendy today. I had never seen her act, I knew she always loved it though.

I sat down at a table with Archie. Veronica had claimed to have to take care of something. "Do you think Betty's alright, man?" He asked as I tools bite of apple. "I really don't know, Arch." I replied. He shrugged. I sighed and shifted awkwardly. "I mean, you don't think something's going on for her at home, do you?" I asked quietly. "I'm not sure, she hasn't been talking to me much." Archie answered. I thought that talking to my best friend would make me feel better, however, it only made me much more worried.

Jellybean POV
Seth and I were kind of pretending that nothing happened. I didn't mind, though, I liked being able to think about it. I had enjoyed it, that's for sure. Lunch had finally came and we were both desperate to find out what parts we got in the play. We were all gathered around the small bulletin board outside Mr. Cassidy's room trying to look at the piece of paper with the cast on it. Nobody spoke. We finally got to the front of the group. When I finally saw the coveted paper, I couldn't believe my eyes.