Bughead One-shots | Riverdale

Thunder

Betty Cooper wasn't afraid of many things. She'd seen multiple dead bodies in person. She'd solved a murder. She'd faced a serial killer, her father, and survived. She'd even survived living at The Sisters Of Quiet Mercy, and escaped without even batting an eyelid. Though one thing she was scared of was storms.

Ever since she was a little girl she'd been terrified of the thunder that would rumble through the town on a stormy night, usually keeping her up until it had passed. It was a little better when she wasn't staying in a house alone, though with her mother and sister living at The Farm, and father behind bars, she was without any company to relax her a little.

Usually she'd convince Jughead to stay over with her if there was a storm forecasted for that day, just to have somebody there with her, though nobody had known this storm was coming, so he wasn't with her.

Betty had her arms wound tight around her legs to keep them pressed against her chest, her chin resting on her knees with her eyes closed. Each rumble and roar of thunder made the girl flinch, her eyes squeezing shut at the noise and her whole body going rigid. She'd been getting ready for bed when the first flash of lightning had shone through the window of her bedroom, so she was in her pyjamas - a pair of pink cotton shorts and a grey t-shirt, with her hair pulled back in a neat braid. Though there was no way she could sleep with the storm going on outside.

Part of her longed to call Jughead and ask him to stay over with her, though Betty wasn't a selfish person, and whilst she wanted him there, she didn't want to make him travel all the way to hers in a storm.

Another rumble of thunder sounding made her flinch again, though it was the tapping at her window that made her eyes snap open, green hues shifting to look over at her window. A sigh left her lips when seeing her beanie-clad boyfriend on the other side of the glass, a thankful smile covering her lips as she forced her limbs to unwind from the ball she'd curled herself into, pushing herself up off of the mattress to head over to the window and slide it open so he could climb inside.

Part of her wasn't surprised that he had come. He was very aware of her fear of storms, he'd been there most times there was a storm to comfort her since they'd started dating. But she was still pleasantly surprised that he'd shown up, love filling her at just the thought of knowing how caring her boyfriend is.

"Are you okay?" He asked as soon as he'd climbed through the  window, shutting it behind him so not to make the thunder come through louder.

Instead of answering Betty just wound her arms around him, eyes closing as she leaned her head against his chest. She felt more than heard the rumble of a chuckle leaving his chest as his arms moved back around his girlfriend to hold her tightly against himself.

For a moment the storm was forgotten and she let herself just focus on the embrace. Her fingers messed with the end of his jacket, finding a soft denim between her fingers instead of the cold leather of his Serpents jacket that she was used to. And for one moment he wasn't the Serpent King, or the boy who had broken up with her outside of the Whyte Wyrm. He was the boy who had quoted Romeo and Juliet the first time he'd climbed into her bedroom, the boy who she'd shared her first love with.

This time instead of a rumble it was more like a bang of thunder, much louder than any previous noises of the storm, and Betty flinched in Jughead's arms, body stiffening as her eyes squeezed shut.

"Alright, come on." Jughead pressed a kiss to the top of her head before letting her go, shrugging off his jacket and setting it on the floor next to his shoes after he'd kicked them off. He held his hand out for her, the pale skin of his hand still cold from being outside, and once she'd taken it he lead her over to her bed, climbing under the sheets himself before gently pulling her against himself once she'd gotten in beside him.

Betty tucked herself under the arm that was around her shoulders, her head resting against his chest as she let her eyes close. The blonde listened to his heart beating for a moment, focusing on the rising and falling of his chest as he breathed. Though the thunder roared again, much louder than before, making her flinch and cling to him tightly.

"Do you remember our first kiss?" Jughead asked, his fingers reaching up to gently pull the hair tie out of her blonde strands before running his fingers through the braid to take it out, keeping the motion of his digits running through her hair even once it was loose, something he knew helped her calm down.

"Of course I do." Betty smiled fondly at the memory, for a moment letting the memory flash behind her eyes. "It's one of my favourite memories."

"Yeah, back in simpler times, before I was cool." Jughead joked, a small giggle passing Betty's lips once she'd heard it.

"You were always cool to me." Betty smiled, fingers messing with the end of his trademark S t-shirt as she spoke.

"Really? If I remember correctly you thought a certain red-headed jock was cool." The smirk was audible in his tone as he spoke, earning a gentle nudge to the ribs from Betty which made him chuckle.

"Shut up." Betty playfully rolled her eyes. "I'm very happy it didn't go well with Archie, because if it had then I probably wouldn't be with you." Betty smiled, leaning up a little to kiss his cheek gently before once again laying her head on his chest.

"And if we weren't together god knows who would have to keep me in line." Jughead chuckled again, earning another quiet giggle from the blonde in his arms.

Betty knew he was trying to use the conversation as a distraction from the storm, and truthfully it was working a little. She no longer noticed the flash of lightning seeping through her window into her room, instead focusing on Jughead and letting herself get lost in the conversation.

Though she'd spoke too soon, as another roar of thunder sounded, sounding like it right on top of her house, causing the girl to flinch and squeeze her eyes shut, burying her face in her boyfriend's chest.

"Ignore it, Betty." Jughead whispered into her hair, pressing a kiss to her temple as he moved his arms around her waist, holding her tightly against himself.

After some time the thunder started to get quieter with each rumble, until it was just a faint hum in the distance. Betty once again allowed herself to be distracted by Jughead as the conversation picked up, focusing on anything else but the storm as it started fading. Focusing on the feeling of the fabric of his shirt between her fingers, the feeling of his fingers in her hair, the vibrations of a chuckle running through his chest that she could feel each time he laughed.

When the storm had passed Jughead looked down at Betty to ask her if she was okay, though instead saw his blonde beauty asleep in his arms, completely relaxed. Without moving too much he removed an arm from around her to reach over and turn off the lamp on her bedside table, before pulling the pink covers of her bed up over the both of them with a gentle kiss to her forehead as he let his own eyes close, attempting to fall asleep himself, though not before whispering something into the comfortable silence of the bedroom.

"Sleep well, my love."

Vote and comment, thanks for reading lovelies. 💕