5 Years On | Bughead

Six

Sometime later . . .

"You wanna go for a drive today?"

"A drive? Sure, but . . ." She shook her head. "I really should have brought my overnight bag here, instead of leaving it at my hotel. I'm going to have to wear some of your clothes, I'm afraid, unless you want to -"

"No, it's okay." They walked into his bedroom, where he dug around in his dresser drawer, finding an old grey T-Shirt of his that he threw to her. She remembered it from high school.

"The letter S suits you," he said, nodding. Then he tossed her some drawers and asked, "You ever wear Gregg's underwear?"

That got a belly laugh out of Betty. "No. He'd die."

Jughead smiled. "Let's go for that drive."

"You'll have to give me some privacy so I can change."

"I've seen it all before," he said smugly.

"Not lately you haven't!" she said and playfully threw his own pillow at him. "Now get."

As they drove into town, Jughead had an idea. A grand gesture - one that might get her to talk. He hadn't even known Betty still cared until she showed up two days ago. Maybe they could heal . . . and more. But God, he wished he knew what had really happened their senior year. It had scarred him for life. He really thought he was ready to hear it now.

They stopped by A. Andrews construction.

"Jughead! Betty! What are you two doing about town?" Archie smiled broadly when they walked in. "Better yet, what are you still doing here, Betty? And in Jughead's clothes no less."

They all chuckled a bit.

"I haven't finished what I came her for," she said cryptically and shrugged.

"You're looking good, Jughead," Archie said and clapped him on the back. "I haven't seen you this way in –"

"Archie," Jughead interrupted. "I need a favor. Can you excuse us, Betty?"

"Sure."

Jughead had left Archie and Betty alone to have a late lunch and catch up. And he was quite late getting back. The sun was starting its slow descent down when he returned to A. Andrews construction.

"Ready?" he asked Betty.

Why did this feel like a first date?

"Yes," Betty agreed, a little flutter in her stomach, and gave Archie a quick peck on the cheek in goodbye.

"Take good care of her, man," Archie told Jughead.

"Always," Jughead said and smiled.

They visited old haunts well into the evening. Sweetwater River, Riverdale High, the building where her parents used to run the Riverdale Register, and Pop's of course. When it was well past twilight, Jughead asked Betty, "Wanna go to the drive-in?"

"They have a drive-in here in Riverdale again?"

"Kinda," he answered cryptically.

"Kinda?" she asked and her eyebrows shot up a bit.

They paid Pop Tate for their strawberry and vanilla milkshakes and got back into Jughead's truck. It was quite an upgrade from FP's old beater. Betty didn't get the urge to go to town on the engine like she had every time she had ridden in Jughead's dad's truck. She noticed that Jughead had put a bunch of blankets and pillows in the flatbed. He must have planned for this trip to the drive-in before they had even left. It wasn't spontaneous like all the other stops had seemed.