heartbeats ; bughead

20

forsythe;

By the time it was sunrise, I was already half awake, thinking about what the hell I was doing in Riverdale. 

Sometimes, I just wanted to leave this town. There was too much guilt left for me to handle.

But then, there was a light, an innocence in this town of darkness. An angel. 

Everything just felt strange, out of place. I didn't fit in. Our new house, new school, new people, everything was new. 

But Betty Cooper was constant. Unmoving. A beacon of light in a world of night. A--

tap. tap. tap. taptaptaptaptap. 

Rain? 

I opened the window, and there stood Betty, with her gleaming face, lips turned up in a small smile. 

"Hi, Jughead." I frowned. 

"How do you know where I live?" 

She gave a sly wink. "The Coopers know everything." I beckoned for her to come in, and as she came in, her smile went away. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" She licked her lips, looking down in shame, guilt, confusion, sadness. 

"I didn't come here because, what the heck. I came here because..." 

"Go on."

"Because I needed someone to talk to." 

When she spoke those words, this took me back to the day in the alleyway, when I held her at gunpoint, and I slipped her that note.

I think I need someone to talk to. ~J

"Yeah, of course. What's up?" 

Plopping down on the easy chair, she sighed. "Basically, you know how Veronica and Archie were secretly..." She made a face. "Behind my back?" I nodded.

"So, Veronica's leaving. To New York. And so they both came and told me about their secret rendezvouses, and I just-I couldn't handle it, and I said that we shouldn't be friends anymore. And I went into this whole rant about how they didn't MEAN anything to me, but that isn't true, but they didn't know that, and they looked so sad, and I feel so bad, and it's probably the last time I'm ever gonna see Veronica..." Her eyes were red and watery, and I didn't even know what to do.

I was speechless. I'd never seen Betty this vulnerable before, but being the awkward weirdo I am, I said, "Well, at least you have me?" She looked at me, with a weirded-out expression, and then she burst out laughing. 

"What did I say?" I was half smiling; I mean, with Betty, it was impossible not to. Finally, she came to grips with herself, and her laughter died down.

"Seriously, Jughead? You're so insensitive that it's actually funny." I gave an apologetic smile. 

"That's me." 

"Yeah, I figured. That's why I like you." My cheeks burned. Why are my cheeks burning? 

"Thanks, Elizabeth Cooper." She wrinkled her nose.

"No problem, Forsythe Pendelton. The third. Why do you call yourself Jughead, anyway?" She smirked. "I like Forsythe better." 

I shook my head, cringing slightly. "Don't make me tell that story."

Betty smiled even wider. "Oh my gosh. Now that you're cringing, you have to tell me. Come on. We're friends, right?" 

I grinned slightly at the word friends, becoming a little more happy inside. "Okay, okay.

"So basically, there are two reasons. First, my hat, the one on the floor over--SHOOT, my hat!" I grabbed it from the floor and put it over my head. 

"Aw, you looked so cute without your hat. Like a little angel--"

"Shut up. Anyways, my hat's basically called a jag hat. For some weird reason. So hat's on my head, Jag Head, or Jughead." Betty's eyebrows raised slightly. 

"The other reason's slightly ugh-worthy. My family...used to be rich. Believe or not. My dad wasn't deep into the alcohol. My mom and sister didn't leave because of stress in our family, and money, and other crap. We used to be happy.

"Can't believe I'm telling you this." 

"No, no. It's fine, Jughead. You can trust me." She gave a reassuring smile. 

"Promise you won't laugh or judge me?" I felt like an idiot. 

"I promise." She put a hand on my shoulder, and it tingled where she put it. 

"Okay. So basically, when I was eight or nine, before we moved to Riverdale, we used to be rich. But then my dad decided to invest in some stupid water company. PureJug. And then it went bankrupt. You can probably guess what happened next. We went bankrupt, falling further into debt." I sighed.

"All the kids used to make fun of me about my dad, and my family, and our bankruptcy. So I became known as..." I looked expectantly at her. 

"Jughead, I don't know what to say. I thought it was just some nickname you came up for yourself." 

"No. It wasn't. But, you know, thanks."

"For what?"

"For listening. For not judging. For not laughing. For not ditching me." 

ay twenty chapters what's goooood! anyway tysm for the reads, (2.3K that's awesome!) and hope y'all are having a relaxing labor day, and enjoying it so far. literally my pup just turned 3 months and i'm so happy! also for all the pup owners out there am i the only one who gets emotional when they have to say goodnight to their pup? like who can relate? anyways thanks watters bai ^^ and stayyyyy hydrated :)

~mo