No one ever said that it would be this hard

Chapter 29

♾ Betty ♾

Jughead made lunch, telling me yet again that he could do it and that I don't have to help him. Today it was simple spaghetti with tomato sauce and Parmesan. Though Jughead just picked around the noodles, not eating much.

"What's wrong? Aren't you hungry?"

"No, I'm just- just not that keen on cheese r-right now"

"Why didn't you say something?" I asked "you could have — no, should have — told me. I don't care what we eat. Now you don't eat"

"It d-doesn't matter, I'm fine. I'll just... just eat at dinner, don't worry"

"Uhm... okay. If you say so..."

We stayed quiet again.

"So... uhm... I have the next baby appointment next week. And I was hoping that you would come with me...? I mean, it's totally fine if you don't want to or if you're uncomfortable or not ready but I just- I would be happy if you would come with me. I know that we just came back to one another but it would mean a lot to me if you came"

"Of c-course I will come with you, Betty. I want to be t...there for you and the- and our baby. You are not a-alone"

"Really?"

"Of course" I couldn't stop the smile and just wrapped my arms around him, hugging him. Jughead froze, not moving, so I quickly pulled away from him "sorry, I forgot"

"It's o-okay, don't worry" he said, starting to fidget again "not about me"

"But I do. Jug, I care about you, a lot, you know that. And that means that I worry about you and if you're alright. You trying to make everything right for me is not healthy. You need to set your boundaries, Jug"

"Well, I'm honestly not in the... the mood for that right now. I'm upstairs" he mumbled, already getting up, though I grabbed his hand. He flinched, pulling away to start fidgeting again, though he stayed still.

"Please don't. I don't want you to go, I- I want you to stay here. We don't even have to stay too close. I didn't mean to pressure you-"

"You're not p-pressuring me, just- I just need some me-time, okay?" I hesitated but then nodded. He mumbled a 'thank you' before heading upstairs, leaving me down here.

Over the day, I headed upstairs multiple times, though I never got around to actually knocking.

Jughead came downstairs at 4, walking in the kitchen to make himself a tea before he walked back over to me to the couch, silently sitting down on the other side.

"Hey, Jug?" He hummed, taking a sip of his tea "I was meaning to ask you if we could go to my moms. I need some stuff back here that are still there and... and I wanted to ask if you would come with me"

"Alice h-hates me"

"She doesn't hate you, Jug. She just... maybe has a dislike on you, you know?" I suggested, knowing that it was not true "will you nevertheless come with me? I don't want to go alone..." he hummed, taking a bigger gulp of the tea.

"Of course I'm c-coming with you" I smiled softly, rocking over to him. I wanted to hug him, though this time I asked first.

"Can I hug you?" I asked.

"Uhm... s-sure" he said and I went to hug him. He didn't flinch or pull away but he also didn't hug me back.

I have to ask in order to even touch.

He flinched when I hugged him.

I ruined everything.

"Can we... we please pull away?" Jug asked and I nodded, breaking apart from him. He slowly rocked away, taking his tea mug again before emptying it "do you want t-to go now?"

"If it fits for you?"

"Yeah, s-sure, it's fine"

"Okay, I'll grab a bag and then we can go" he nodded and I got up, heading upstairs to do so. When I was downstairs, Jug had already put on a jacket and held mine over his arm, reaching it to me when I approached him. Jug held the door open for me and then we walked over to the car and Jughead got in the drivers seat. While driving, he reached for my hand. I just smiled, intertwining our fingers as he rested our hands on my thigh. It was the first time that he asked for physical contact since our break up.

Arriving at my mom's, Jughead parked the car in the drive way. He let go of my hand, though only to get out of the car before he took my hand again, not saying anything about it.

"Does Alice know that we're coming?"

"No, I haven't told her. I thought that we would just grab my stuff and leave again. I've still got my keys after all" I explained and he nodded.

Of course that was not how it worked though. Mom almost opened the door for us. I was barely able to put my key in the keyhole. We stepped inside the house.

"Betty" my mom greeted us before her eyes narrowed on Jughead, her smile disappearing "Jughead"

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Cooper"

"What are you doing here?"

"Just getting some of my things"

"Then go, he'll stay here"

"Mom, what do you suspect that we are doing there?"

"Well, you're just getting your stuff there, aren't you? I don't see why you would need him there"

"He-"

"It's fine, Betty" Jughead whispered, giving my hand a soft squeeze "go upstairs and get your stuff, don't worry. I'll be fine" I hesitated, though then nodded. I kissed Jughead on the cheek before heading upstairs and leaving him with my mother.

I tried to hurry up with packing, since I didn't want to leave him for too long. With my bag, I got downstairs. My mom and Jug were having a stare contest, though he broke off as soon as he heard me, smiling softly.

"Is that everything?" He asked, reaching me his hand to take my bag before he also grabbed my hand. I nodded.

"Yeah, we can go" I said a quick goodbye to my mom before he left, Jughead not letting go of my hand until we got into the car.

"Are you okay?" I asked and he nodded, starting to drive "what did you and mom talk about?"

"Nothing important, don't worry"

"Oh, okay"

We stayed quiet the rest of the drive. When we walked inside, Jughead just gave me a kiss on the forehead to say goodnight before he headed upstairs, also not coming downstairs for the whole evening.