Losing you

Chapter 6: Emily Jones

"Jughead?" FP asked, knocking on his door lightly. Jug hummed for an answer, leaning over his desk, writing on the typewriter Betty had gotten him. FP opened the door and smiled a bit, happy that he wasn't crying in the corner. "We caught Hal." Jughead's head shot up as he looked at his dad satisfied and happy face. "We caught him. He's locked up for at least 35 years."

Jughead breathed out sharply at the news and suddenly broke into tears, hiding his face in his hands. FP smiled softly, walking over to his son and gave him a hug that Jughead gladly accepted. He felt like a rock had just dropped from his heart. He felt so much lighter. He felt happy for some idiotic reason. So the only thing he could do was to whisper a, "Thank you," to his dad and keep hugging him.

"Have you gotten any information about school?" FP asked after they'd pulled away from the hug and Jug was sitting on his chair while FP sat on the edge of his bed.

"Yeah, Archie went to collect the assignments and everything..."

"And Veronica?" FP asked, feeling bad for the girl. Her parents were idiots, but as much as he had had interactions with her, she was actually a really nice girl and he was happy for Jughead for finally getting along with her.

"She's still at home... So is Cheryl," Jughead explained. FP rose his eyebrows at that and Jughead chuckled without any emotions on his face. "She's shocked. And mourning. She and Betty were closer than I though, especially the last month or so... Also she's changed a lot."

"You've changed a lot," FP said, agreeing with what he just said. "I'm not sure if it's a phase for until you get better or if it's a permanent thing now, but I really like this Jughead." Jug raised his eyebrows at him. "I mean, not this depressed Jughead, but the one who isn't afraid of physical touch or talking about his feelings... It's hard for the Jones'."

And this was the first time Jughead smiled after Betty's death. He had tears in his eyes again and felt weak, but his dad had just made this process so much easier and he couldn't believe he just said that. He always thought of his dad as a tough guy. They never really hugged when he was a kid, but they did talk about their feelings sometimes.

"Betts? Betty are you awake?" Jughead whispered.

"What?" Betty asked, looking up at him from his chest, half asleep. He smiled down at her and kissed her until she started giggling and pushed him away a little, their noses keeping touching. "What?"

"I love you," he whispered with a smile.

She giggled. "I love you too, Jug." He broke out to smile so big at that and Betty giggled again before giving him another kiss and placing her head back onto his chest to keep on sleeping. "You're one big softy, Jughead Jones," she murmured and earned another kiss from him.

Two days later, the burial was finally held. Jughead arrived on his motorcycle later than many others and was immediately hugged by Cheryl who felt like his best friend now from the amount of things they had shared during the past few days. The next hug he got was from Archie and then from very exhausted looking Veronica. Jughead didn't look any better than she did though. The two had spent the night by crying over phone, telling each other about the moments they remember with Betty and about the flashbacks they couldn't seem to stop getting.

He walked to his dad and Betty's mom who he had already seen at home in the morning, but now wanted to hug again. He also greeted Polly and the year old twins before going to sit with his best friends in the third row.

When he sat down between Archie and Toni, he noticed the coffin in front of everyone. He knew her body had been cremated like he had insisted on, but it was placed in an open coffin, so that people knew her body wasn't there like this. His breath hitched while staring at the other one with big eyes though. He didn't know how it was possible, but there was a really mini urn next to Betty's. They had gotten the baby out and done the same with her apparently. This wasn't only her girlfriend's funeral. It was his family's.