Hometown

Saturday

    I wake up with Veronica at my side. Nothing happened with us last night, we just talked and she fell asleep in my bed. I smile, it feels right. Not her being in my bed, but being with her, having her as a friend. She opens her eyes and smiles at me before sitting up.
    "Sorry, I must've fallen asleep."
    "It's no problem, it's nice having you around again. Except I don't want to you know...marry you anymore." I chuckle.
    She giggles. "Owch."
   "You know what I mean."
    She nods. "I'm going to go and-" she steps towards me, accidentally hitting my chest. "Sorry, um, see Jellybean."
    "It's nice to see you again Ronnie, I mean it. I think I've missed you the most."
    She smiles at me. "I missed you too, you were my best friend forever."
    "You are an amazing friend, Ronnie. I'm sorry about everything, I truly am."
    "Jughead, I forgave you a long time ago." She says, walking down the hall and into Jellybeans' room.
    I smile at the floor and walk downstairs to the kitchen and grab a yogurt drink and walk out into the living room. I smile at Betty who is sitting on the couch and then take a seat next to her. She turns to face me.
    "Good morning." She says.
    "Good morning to you," I say back to her.
    "Did you sleep well?" She asks.
    "Yeah."
    "Did Veronica sleep well?"
    "Yeah, she...how did you know?"
    "My God, Jughead, the whole house knows."
    "How?"
    "Jellybean."
    "Go figure."
    She giggles. "So are you two?"
    "No, we were just talking and we fell asleep."
    "Oh, okay."
    "Why?"
    "No specific reason, just a general...wonderment."
    I nod. "How's mom?"
    "Not good, Juggie." She rests a hand on my knee. "I don't think she's going to...live much longer."
    "How much longer do you think she has?"
    She pauses, thinking for a moment. "A day."
    I feel my heart drop into my stomach. "Are you sure?"
    She nods. "I think...I think we will all have to say our goodbyes".
    "Oh, my god."
    "I'm sorry, Juggie, I really am."
    "I know you are, does dad know?"
    "He's in talking to her now. If you want I can go in with you. I know how difficult it must be for you."
    "No, I should do it myself."
    "Jellybean saw her earlier, so you are the only one who needs to see her. Your dad called the gang and told them to come and say goodbye last night."
    Veronica skips down the stairs and runs to me, hugging me. "I'm so sorry."
    "Thanks, Ronnie."
    "When do we get to see her?" Veronica asked Betty.
    "Well, Jellybean and Fp saw her...Fp is actually seeing her now. Everyone else is on their way right now, so depending on whether or not Jug wants to see her after Fp or tonight, or if we want to do it individually, we could be saying our goodbyes all night."
    "I'll see her tonight," I say.
    "Would it be okay if my boyfriend came over tonight? Not to see your mom but just for support?" Veronica asks me.
    "Of course, Ronnie, whatever you need." I pause. "Betty, are you going to be okay with Archie here?"
    "Yeah, we've been friends forever, it wasn't a bad break up or anything." I see something in her eyes. Pain. "Betts, what's going on?"
    "Nothing." I raise my eyebrows. "Okay, one thing a little while before we broke up."
    "Bee, what happened?" Veronica asks.
    "Well...he uh, nevermind. It's not important."
    "Bee, it is. What happened?"
    Water filled her eyes. "He uh, he s-slapped me. But I mean, he was drinking and he said he was sorry, so..." Her words trail off.
    "Betty, that's not okay. Why did he do that?"
    "It was my fault, I was talking too much."
    "Betty that wasn't your fault, he shouldn't have done that to you," I say, horrified.
    She takes in a deep breath. "It's all in the past now, I'm over it." She says, walking out of the room and upstairs.
    Veronica and I exchange a worried glance before the doorbell rings. Veronica runs to the door, throwing it open and jumping into a man's arms giving him a kiss. She grabs his hand and leads him over to me.
    "Sweetpea, this is my friend, Jughead."
    "Oh, so you're the famous Jughead." He says, shaking my hand.
    "And you are the famous Sweetpea. How long have you been a teacher?"
    "A couple of years."
    "Cool, what grade?"
    "Ten."
    "Class?"
    "History."
    "That was one of my favourite classes in school."
    The doorbell rings again, this time the door opens right after. Cheryl, Toni and Archie all walk in. Cheryl opened the door, Toni must have rung the doorbell and Cheryl was yelling at Archie. I could hear it in the background when I was talking to Sweetpea. Cheryl walks over to me and gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I can tell that there is a red mark on my cheek now from her lipstick.
    "Are you and Cheryl going in together?" I ask.
    "Ya."
    "Okay, Veronica is going in after dad gets out then Veronica and Sweetpea...then Archie."
    "Okay, will Betty be in there when we are?" Veronica asked.
    "No, she will be in after all of us with medicine and everything, but we will let you have your privacy," I explain.
    Dad walks int he room and Veronica rubs his arm before heading in with Sweetpea. Cheryl and Toni sit down on the couch and Archie sits in a nearby chair. I sit down next to Cheryl and she rests her head on my shoulder.
    We all sit in silence for a few minutes, the only interruption being Betty's arrival back into the room. Then Sweetpea and Veronica came out and take the place if Toni and Cheryl. Betty starts to cry, quietly nearby. I pull her into my lap and she cries into my neck. I rub her back to try and calm her down and Veronica hugs us both from the side.
    "Archie, " Cheryl whispers, gesturing for him to head into mom's room.
    He gets up and heads to my mom's room. Cheryl and Toni curl up in the small chair. Cheryl has black mascara marks down her face and smudged lipstick. I tense up, knowing that it's going to be bad.
    "You okay, Juggie?" Betty sniffled.
    "Yeah, just nervous, that's all."
    She presses her lips against my cheek and cuddles back into my neck. After a while, Archie comes out of Mom's room. It's my turn. Betty gets off of me and I stand up, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants. I slowly walk into Mom's room. My heart is racing, I feel like I'm choking on my pulse. I take a deep breath and sit down in the chair next to Mom's bed. She's asleep, I'm not surprised.
    "Hey mom, I know you probably can't hear me, but...I'm going to miss you so much. The way you sang before bed or while you were cooking or cleaning. The way you would tuck me in at night or tell me about your day and curse out your coworkers or some driver that made you angry on your way home. I can't believe youre not going to be around anymore. Listen, I know we aren't as close as we used to be, but you're my mom. I don't want you do die." I sob, grabbing her hand. The heart rate monitor (I have no idea what it's actually called) goes flat. "Mom?" Nothing. I press my ear to her chest. No heartbeat. "BETTY!"
    Betty bolts in and takes in the situation. She hugs me as I sob. We both do. I feel like my bones are rubber. I just want to sink into the floor and cry forever.
    "I'm sorry, Juggie."
    Cheryl knocks on the door with Veronica and Archie before they all walk in. They embrace us and we all cry for a minute. We separate and Cheryl goes back to Toni and Veronica to Sweetpea. Betty was on the phone with the Coroner and the hospital, explaining that we no longer need supplies and we would like to have the supplies picked up. I run into dad and Jellybean on my way up the stairs.
    "Jug, how is she?" Jellybean asks.
    "She's gone," I say, heading back up to my room.
    She I hear dad say something and Jellybean responds. Cheryl chases me up the stairs and gives me a big hug.
    "Jug, we are all going to stay here for a few days. Can Archie sleep in your room with you?"
    "No, " I respond. Maybe too quickly.
    A crease forms in between her eyebrows. "Okay, then we'll have to put Betty in your room, Veronica and Sweetpea in Jellybeans room, Jellybean in your dads' room with him, Archie in your mom's room and Toni and I on the pullout couch. Does that work? Or we could put Archie on the couch across from Toni and I if you don't want him in your mom's old room."
    "Ya, he can sleep on the couch. I don't want anybody in that room."
    "Jug." She lowers her voice to a whisper. "I know Gladys was your mom, but Betty and her we're really close after everything and...I think you should go talk to her. We all have some outlet or someone to talk to, but Gladys was the person she talked to about everything."
    "I...had no idea she was so close with mom. I'll go talk to her now. Where is she?"
    "She's downstairs, crying."
    "I'll go check on her."
    Cheryl nods and walks down the hall and into the bathroom. I head downstairs and see Betty sitting on the couch with her face in her palms. I crouch down in front of her and she lifts her head to look at me.
    "I didn't know...you and mum we're so close." I say.
    "Ya, she was just always there I guess."
    "I'm sorry, you've had to go through all of this. Seeing her sick and everything."
    "At least I got to see her."
    "Betty, let's just go up to bed, okay."
    She sniffles. "Okay, where am I sleeping?"
    "My room."
    I grab her hand and we go up to my room. As soon as I close the door she hugs me. Tight. I rub her back as she sobs into my chest. Her breathing calms and I wipe away two tears that strayed from my eyes. She pressed her lips against mine quickly and pulls away. I stare at her for a split second before pressing my lips back into hers.