Dreamers

60

B POV
Jughead sits on the couch, pulling me into his lap. I rest my head on his chest and close my eyes, sniffling a little. "Mom?" Scarlett asks. "I'm ok munchkin." I say. She sits next to him and rubs my back. "I'm ok." I repeat. "Who was that?" she asks. "That was Seth, my ex boyfriend. My aunt and uncle, I guess, they made me date him. I would get slapped around by him too." I sigh, "they wanted to maintain the perfect image, so why not force me to date the captain of the football team." Jughead kisses my head. "I'm so sorry mom." she says. "You didn't know. No one did." I say. "You didn't tell fangs or Fp?" he asks. "No. I got away from all of them and I wanted to forget about him. He has done so many horrible things to me. They all have." I say. "You need to get some rest mom. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning." Scarlett says and I nod. Jughead carries me up the stairs and gently lays me on the bed.

J POV
I woke up with Betty on top of me. "Good morning love." I kiss her head. "Good morning." she says groggily. I chuckle and she looks up at me. "How did you sleep?" I ask. "I had you so I slept great." she grins. We get up and get dressed. "What are we doing today?" Scarlett asks. "I want to give you both a tour of New York City. It's a decent city, just the people in it aren't." she says. "What do you have planned?" I grinned. "Well, I need to go to my favorite store. Then for lunch we can go to one of the best cafes ever. We can go to one of the parks too." she smiles. "I can make breakfast." Scarlett says. "Don't burn it." We say in unison. "I'm hurt." she covers her heart. "I bet it will taste amazing." Betty kisses her head. She grins at Betty and starts cooking.

B POV
We went to the store and I got a few shirts. Around lunchtime, I took them to the cafe. "Who owns this little cafe?" Scarlett asks. Before I could answer, the owner stepped out and stopped in her tracks when she spotted me. "Betty? Is that you?" she asks. I stand and nod. She practically runs to me, and gives me a tight hug. "I'm glad your back." she says. "You know I can't stay away to long, but I'm only here for a couple days." I say when we break. She looks over at the table. "And Who are these lovely people. "That's Scarlett, my daughter." I start. "Oh, I think I heard about her in one of your rants." she chuckles. "And that's jughead, my fiancé." I say. "I definitely heard about him." she points at him. They grin at her, then at me. "What can I get you honey?" she wraps her arm around my shoulders. "My usual." I say, resting my head on her shoulder. "You're getting food with it. You never eat. What would you two like?" she says. "I want a burger with fries." Jughead says. "I want the same, and I want to know your name." Scarlett says. "It's Katie. It's nice meeting some of Betty's family." she hugs me one more time before heading back to the kitchen. I sit down and they grin at me. "You ranted about us?" Scarlett asks. "This is one of my New York safe places, and Katie is like a mother to me. I used to always rant to her, but she can be a little much some times." I giggle. "I think she is charming." Jughead says. "She is. I'd always come here after school, and she would force me to tell her about my day, knowing I wouldn't tell them because they wouldn't care. I told her I was leaving the day before I did, and she supported me." I say. She comes out with our food and sets my usual in front of me. "Thank you." I smile at her. She nods and sits next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. "Tough shift?" I ask. "Tough day. Sooner or later, the school kids will come in here, and they are brats." she sighs. "I know. I got a job as an English teacher." I say. "Good." She squints her eyes at Scarlett. "What?" I laugh a little. "She has his eyes and your hair." she smiles, "I think I've heard a few things about both of you." "No Katie! Please don't!" I exclaim. "Do tell." Jughead grins. "I've heard her usual, I need to go back, but they are all gonna hate me, she said that just about everyday she came in here." I lay my head on the table with a groan, "She talked about you a lot. Both of you actually. I haven't really heard any other names. Just the usual ranting and then she'll throw one of your names in the mix." The door opens and she gets up. "I'll be back." she says. "Take your time." I say. She gets up to serve the other people, and I hear jughead and Scarlett trying not to laugh. "It's not funny." I state. "You're right, but this sweet old woman just literally spilled one of your secrets." he says. I glare at him and he laughs. I stare at my plate. "You need to eat." Katie says. "I'm not hungry." I say. "Come on Betty. You have to eat. It's not healthy if you continue like this. You know what happened last time. It will happen again." she says. "Ugh. That was enough torture. I really don't want to go through that again, but I'm not hungry." I shiver. "At least eat a little, then you can take the rest with you. Please." she says and I nod. "Why do you never eat?" Scarlett asks. "Ever since I was little they would give me little to no food. I'm just used to not eating, and everyone forcing me to eat just makes me wants to throw up." I say. "What happened last time?" she asks. "Katie put me in the hospital, and they put a feeding tube in me. I was so thin, you could see most likely all my bones." I say. She nods and continues eating, "It's why I don't want you going down the same path as me."

J POV
We walk around the park for a little while, and Betty was holding on to my arm, her head on my shoulder. "You ok?" I ask. "Cold." she replies. "Ready to head back?" I say and she nods. Scarlett grabs my other hand and we head back to the house. Betty puts her leftovers in the fridge, and goes to the living room. We go in after her, and she was already asleep on the couch. I grin and carry her to bed. Scarlett goes to her room and I place Betty on the bed. She grabs my hand and I look at her. "Stay." she murmurs.  I get in next to her and she wraps herself around me. "You're ok Betts." I stroke her hair. I wrap my arms around her and fall asleep.

I felt Betty wiggling against me. I opened my eyes, and she was tossing and turning. "Betty." I say softly. She looks at me with her big green eyes. "What's wrong?" I ask. "Can't sleep." she replies. I pull her on top of me and she giggles.