Alone Together | Bughead Oneshots

Blindness

This would be a lot easier to visualize if it were a movie. Enjoy!

Betty was happy. Well, as happy as a woman could be as a widowed mother. She missed Jughead everyday, but she had their daughter as company, and Betty put everything she had into raising and caring for their daughter.

Juliet's loss of sight didn't ever play a part in Betty's love for her; she loved her daughter regardless of her being blind; it just meant that caring for her while she's young is more work.

Betty and Juliet slept in the same bed, given the young girl was prone to getting out of bed in the middle of the night and falling down the stairs.

"And the end!" Betty said with a quiet, cheerful voice as she closed the book she was reading from. "Time for bed, Juls," she smiled, leaning over to set the book down. "No! One more time!" Juliet whined. "It's late, hon," Betty smiled, pulling the blankets over the girl's lap before turning off the small nightstand lamp.

"I'm not tired," Juliet said as Betty situated herself beneath the covers. "Mama?" the small girl called in a quiet voice. "Yes, baby?" "Can you tell me about Dad? I can't see the pictures," Juliet asked with a small sigh. "I know you can't, baby," Betty replied with a small sigh of her own.

"Your dad was amazing, Juls," she started, laying on her side, facing her daughter. "He was sweet and funny. He would've done anything for us. He was so happy when we found out we were expecting you."

"Really?" Juliet asked. "Of course, babygirl," Betty replied, gently tucking a few strands of the eight-year-old's hair behind her ear. "What did Dad look like?" "Your dad...had jet black hair that was short and almost always hidden by that beanie he wore," Betty described, a small chuckle at the end of her sentence as her eyes teared up.

"Beanie?" Juliet asked. "Uh-huh," Betty replied before sniffling, wiping tears on her sleeve before continuing. "I still have it." "You do?" the girl asked with a smile. "Yeah, baby." 

"And his eyes were green and moody. Somehow, they managed to light up when he was happy. And his favorite color was black; he wore a lot of it."

"Was he tall?" "Well, I guess for his age, he was average," Betty answered. "Mama, what do you look like?" Juliet asked. Betty sighed and took her daughter's hand, putting her daughter's palm against her hair. 

"Well, my hair is blonde. And my eyes are green," Betty paused, putting the tip of Juliet's index finger below her eye. "Like Dad," she said happily. "Yeah, just like Dad," Betty replied with a chuckle. "I'm a bit shorter than your dad was."

"Mama?" Juliet asked with a small voice, almost as if she was nervous to ask what she wanted to. "What is it, Juls?" "What do I look like?"

Betty paused, having to think for a moment. It hit her like a bullet that Juliet had never, and most likely will never see herself. She'll never know the true shade of her eyes or the length of her hair; how her lips formed a smile.

"You're beautiful, baby," Betty smiled. "You're eyes are green like mine and your dad's. Your hair's a bit darker than mine and farther than your shoulders. You have the most gorgeous smile." 

"I wish I could have met Dad," Juliet pouted slightly. "I know, hon," Betty replied sympathetically, putting a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder before giving herself an idea. "Stay here, Juls, okay? I'll be right back," she said before getting out of bed and walking over to her closet, opening the box on the top.

Inside the box laid polaroids and mementos of Jughead, and beneath it, laid his beanie. Betty grabbed it with a sigh, closing her eyes and pressing the fabric against her chest for a moment before walking back out to the bed.

"Here, baby," Betty said, handing her daughter the beanie and watching her eyebrows furrow as she tried to figure out what it was from the feel. "This is the beanie I was talking about." "Dad's?" Juliet asked, a small smile growing on her lips.

"Mhmm," Betty nodded, her eyes tearing up again before she was reaching for the lamp and turning off the light. "I want you to hold it close while you sleep tonight, okay?" she instructed through tears. 

"Okay, Mama," Juliet replied simply before closing her eyes, the beanie pressed between her crossed arms and her chest. "Goodnight, babygirl," Betty said, pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead before Juliet was finally asleep.

For the first time, she dreamed.

The room was a glowing white as a man stood in the middle of it. As Juliet stepped forward, she realized who it was. " Dad?" "Hi, Juliet," Jughead said with a smile, kneeling down to his daughter's height. "Why can I see you?" she asked, looking around the room as if to savor her sight."

You're an imaginative girl, Juls. This is me, baby. Just like Bett--your mom said," he smiled, placing a hand on the side of the girl's face. "Beanie," she said softly, putting her hand on the fabric resting against Jughead's hair. 

He chuckled lightly with tears in his eyes, replying, "It's what you're holding." "Where's Mama?" Juliet asked, looking around. "I wanna see Mama, too." "I know, honey. I know you do," Jughead replied with a sympathetic sigh. 

"Why can I see you and not Mama?" "I'm not sure," Jughead replied before he felt something in his back pocket. Reaching back, he found an old polaroid of him and Betty while they were still in high school. 

He chuckled to himself, whispering a simple, "Betts," before a tear fell down his cheek. "What's that?" she asked. Jughead turned the picture to face his daughter, pointing to the blonde and saying, "That's her. That's your mom." 

Juliet took the picture in her hands, smiling at her parents' image before saying, "Mama's beautiful." "And so are you, baby. You're so beautiful." "I wish I could see," she pouted slightly, looking down.

"Juliet, I've got to go, but look at me, okay? I love you and your mother more than anything. I would do anything just to get back to you two. Just know that, okay? Tell your mother I love her," Jughead said softly with tears in his eyes before embracing his daughter tightly, pressing a kiss against her forehead.

Suddenly, he was gone, only leaving the polaroid behind as it laid on the ground.

---

The next morning, Juliet woke up with a jump, feeling around for her mother before grabbing ahold of the blonde's shoulder and shaking it, calling, "Mama, Mama! Wake up, Mama!" "What, what is it, Juls?" Betty replied groggily, opening her eyes slowly. 

"Mama, I saw him! I saw Dad!" Juliet claimed happily, her father's beanie laying on top of her head. "He told me to tell you he loves you," she said, bringing Betty to tears. "I bet he did, babygirl," she cried with a smile, holding her little girl close before getting up from the bed and picking Juliet up.

"What do you say we make Dad's favorite for breakfast, okay?" she suggested, walking over to the other side of the bed as Juliet replied with a cheerful, "Yay!" Betty paused as she came closer to the door, seeing something on the floor before crouching down, Juliet still on her side.

She gasped when she saw the high school polaroid in her hands, looking at her daughter and then the ceiling, whispering softly, "Jug."