sane | betty & jughead

At Night

It was the middle of the night, when Jughead heard a knock at his door. He awakened from his sleep, climbing out of his bed. With tired eyes he opened the door, finding Betty right outside of it.

She was standing up straight, looking at him. "Did I disturb you?" She asked, looking past him into the room.

"No, no, it's alright." He rubbed his eyes from sleep. "What do you need?"

"I was just wondering if I could maybe take a shower or something?" Jughead frowned, leaning against the doorframe.

"At 1 am?" Betty immediately took a step back.

"I'm sorry. I'm bothering you. I'll get back to bed." Jughead was so confused by her emotionless expression, he almost didn't notice her go back to her room.

Quickly he wrapped his hand around her arm, and turned her back to him. "No, you're not bothering me, really. How about a bath? I don't think you've had one in a very long time." For a few seconds there was no emotion on Betty's face, until the brightest smile suddenly broke through.

"You're a kind man Jughead Jones." She whispered, her eyes twinkling. Jughead smiled contently at her happiness, taking her hand and leading her toward the bathroom.

"Tomorrow I'll be giving you a tour of the entire house, but this is the bathroom. You can go here whenever you want, you can take a shower or a bath when you want." He told her, opening the tap of the bath, letting the water run out.

"It's really beautiful." Betty complimented, looking around the bathroom.

"The bath will be full in a few minutes, just turn the tap off like this and you can soak for as long as you'd like." Jughead said, and then kissed her forehead in a bold move.

As he pulled back, her fingers reached to trace the place where his lips had just been. "I'll be right outside if you need me."

Jughead walked out the door and settled himself on the floor, his back leaning against the wall. He let his eyes wander closed, but doomed himself to fall asleep.

20 minutes later he decided it was safe and knocked on the bathroom door. "Betty?" He got a hum in response, "are you decent?"

"Kind of." She answered, on which Jughead opened the door. She was laying in the bath, a sheen of foam covering her naked body.

"You like the bath?" He asked her, smiling gently.

"Yes, thank you. You're a kind man." It's the second time she'd told him that, and it was starting to work on his mind.

"I'll leave you to it then." Jughead said, still smiling as he went to leave the bathroom.

Just as he was standing in the doorway, her voice sounded in his ears, "She sent me to hurt people."

Jughead stopped in his tracks. Very carefully he turned around, facing the girl. "What?" He asked, grabbing a stool and sitting down on it, beside the tub.

"Almost everyday, I would go out and hurt people who crossed Maya's business. I never knew what they had done, I just hurt them." Jughead just stared at her, seeming unable to speak.

"Do you remember everything you did?" He finally asked, his eyes burning into hers.

"As clear as day." She answered, but there was still no emotion evident in her voice. She told him what she did for Maya, at least it was a start.

"Does that bring up any feelings?" He wanted to be careful with her, he really did. But his urge to get her better was getting big.

Betty immediately shook her head negatively, "Should it?" She wondered, gazing into his eyes. Jughead just pressed his lips on top of his own, and smiled sweetly at her.

"Your emotions are complicated right now, Betts. But you'll get your life back, I promise." She gave him a disoriented look, having no clue what he meant. He just pressed a soft kiss on her golden locks before dissapearing out the bathroom door.

He sat there, on the ground, leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door, for at least another 30 minutes. It was only then that her tiny voice came from inside the room. "Can you help me?" It was more of a plea than a question, and it was the first trace of emotion Jughead had ever found in her voice.

He instantly ripped open the door and saw her standing there, sweatpants over her legs and a towel wrapped around her upper body. "I can't get my shirt on." She mumbled, almost helplessly, as the piece of clothing hung on the tip of her fingers.

Jughead took the shirt from her fingers, opening it. When she dropped the towel, Jughead sucked in a deep breath. Her body was as thin as a blade of glass, bones sticking out everywhere, though she was as gorgeous as ever. He tried not to stare at her chest, failing. "Arms up." He said softly, as he pulled the shirt over her head.

Only seconds later a big yawn came over the blonde's lips. "Let's get you back in bed." She nodded lazily, following him back to her bedroom. Jughead helped her climb in the bed, and tucked the silky sheets warmly around her body. "Sleep tight." He whispered, kissing her forehead once again.

When he left the room, he did notice the faint blush that had grown on her cheeks.

❀ ❀

In the early morning, Jellybean had rose already and hopped happily into Jughead's room. "Wake up big bro!" She giggled, jumping on top of his bed.

Jughead groaned as he awakened, his arms stretching into the air. Jellybean just laughed and pecked a few kisses on his face. "I'm hungry!"

"Go downstairs Jelly, start on the breakfast. I'll be down in a second." He grumbled as the girl instantly left the room, a happy smile still crossing her lips.

Jughead took a few minutes to wake, before getting up and sauntering his way toward Betty's room. When he peaked through the door, he saw her just as he had left her that night. It seemed as if she hadn't moved an inch. The sheets were still tightly tucked around her, and she was still lying on the same side.

Very smoothly he opened the door and stepped inside. With a few gentle shakes and some soft murmurs, the girl finally awakened as well.

"Goodmorning." He said, watching her eyes flicker open. Once she realised it was day once again, she rose from her position and immediatedely sat straight up on her bed.

"Morning." She answered. And as light trace of emotion Jughead had found in her voice at night, as soon as it was gone this morning. She was back to staring straight ahead of her, her voice plain.

"You ready for some breakfast?" At the sound of food her face lightened up slightly, nodding excessively.

Jughead smiled and helped her off the bed. He guided her down the stairs, the delicous smell of food already filling both their noses.m

"Jelly? How do you know how to make pancakes?" Jughead said once him and Betty walked into the kitchen. The girl giggled slightly.

"I don't, Mia helped." Jellybean told her brother, just as the nanny came walking back into the kitchen.

"Morning Jughed, slept well?" Mia asked him. Jughead smiled and gave her a nod.

"Yeah, pretty good." He answered, glancing over Betty, who was busy settling herself down on a chair beside him.

"You must be Betty," Mia then continued, proceeding to shake the blonde's hand, "it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

manon <3