Bughead One-shots | Riverdale

Grief

TW: Death, grief, and suicidal references. It's also super sad. 😂

Jughead didn't move from where he was sat in the Sheriff's office - his father's office - his hands in his lap and his head down. He was still dressed up in his Griffins and Gargoyles get-up from prom, though he felt far from how he was supposed to on the night of prom. His eyes were bloodshot and red, head hung low and eyes closed. Though he was numb.

His father was talking, though he couldn't pay attention to his words. His own thoughts were drowning out anything else, and they were hurting.

A touch on his shoulder made the young man flinch, his eyes looking up to meet his father's sorrowful gaze. "Jug," he murmured, his hand gently squeezing his son's shoulder. "It's not your fault."

"Bullshit." He mumbled, lifting his hand to angrily wipe his eyes before pushing his dad's hand away. "That's bullshit. It's all my fault."

"No, it's not. Nobody saw this coming." FP tried to reason with his son, his own eyes on the verge of tearing up. "You can't blame yourself."

"Yeah? Fucking watch me." Jughead snapped, a nasty glare settling on his father. "I should have fucking been with her!" He yelled all of a sudden, eyebrows furrowed and a scowl over his features. "It was my fucking idea! I showed her the ridiculous gospel! Having her be the fucking Griffin Queen put a target on her back and I should have seen that! And now she's fucking dead!" A sob mixed in with the last word, his hands covering his face as he broke down for the second time that night.

FP didn't hesitate to bring his son into his arms, letting his shaking body break down into his. Jughead could feel his dad's hands rubbing his back, and words being whispered to him as he cried, though he couldn't focus on any of it. All he could focus on was the fact that Betty was dead. And it was his fault.

—

Usually Jughead enjoyed having the house to himself. It was a chance to maybe get some writing done on his own, or even spend some time alone with Betty. But the silence was almost deafening, his own headspace screaming at him when it wasn't covered up by any other noise.

It had taken his dad a lot of convincing to let him go to work. Of course he'd wanted to stay with his grieving son, but there was now a second serial killer out on the loose, and of course FP had to sort things out that had to do with Betty's death. So he'd made his dad go to work. Jellybean had wanted to stay with her brother, too, which he appreciated, though he'd told her he wanted some time alone. Which he regretted.

Though he was almost thankful when the doorbell had rung, glad that somebody was there to keep him from his thoughts. He didn't even care who was there, he was just glad that somebody was.

Of course he'd expected Archie to show up and give his condolences, or maybe even some Serpents, though when he opened the door and a crying Veronica was stood there, he was a little surprised. She didn't say anything at first, just pulling Jughead into a hug that both of them needed. In a way, they shared each other's pain. Jughead had lost his girlfriend, and Veronica had lost her best friend.

"I c-can't believe she's gone!" Veronica sobbed into his chest, and Jughead had to clench his jaw and squeeze his eyes shut to not join her in the crying. Instead his arms tightened around the raven-haired girl and his head leaned down to rest on hers, a shaky breath passing his lips.

"Yeah," he mumbled, a few tears sliding down his cheeks. "Me either."

For a while the two friends just stayed holding each other, Veronica in his arms and Jughead in hers. It was oddly comforting, knowing that he wasn't alone. Maybe Jughead was closer to Betty than Veronica had been, but they were both hurting the worst.