Flash of Red

Chapter 16

"Who are you?!" Betty was tense as she sobbed, clutching her stomach and Jughead stood, his eyes wide.

"Betts-"

"No! No, you can't - no!" She screamed, obviously afraid.

"Let-Let me explain! Please, let me explain!" She hiccuped in a breath, sliding down and resting back on the fridge, hugging her knees to her body. "Love-"

She shook her head, sniffling. "No, you can't call me that. No-Not right now."

He sighed, sitting down across from her but keeping his distance. "Betty, I know you're confused, okay? I-I understand that, I would be, too. But Betts - Betty - I am who I say I am, I just... nobody calls me Forsythe, like, ever!"

"Don't yell at me!" She sobbed and he sucked in a deep breath. "Don't... you're not allowed to yell at me."

He sighed, steadying himself. "Yes, my name is Forsythe Pendlton Jones the third. I'm named after my dad. But I am not some fake person, I'm not lying about who I am or how I act. That's me, all Forsythe is is some dumb, stupid name."

"But it's not," her chin quivered and she moved so she was kneeling. "It's your name and I didn't even know that, yet you say you love me."

"I do love you. I love you so much." She shook her head, lurching back when Jughead reached for her. "It's a name-"

"It's not just a name!" He cowered back, rubbing the palms of his hands on his thighs. "It's your name, your full name and you didn't even think to tell me it. I told you mine, why couldn't you tell me yours?"

"I was going to, Betty, I swear." She gave him an incredulous look.

"When? When I'm dying?" He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face and running his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, that was too much."

"No, you're fine." He clenched his jaw, Betty sniffling and wiping her cheeks. "I was going to tell you, it was just supposed to come up in-in simple conversation, you weren't supposed to find out like this. God, you weren't even supposed to know about the money."

She let out a clipped laugh, shaking her head. "Don't even get me started on that."

"Listen, Caroline is the woman who hit me and my sister that day. I didn't know I was in her will - I didn't even know she was dying." He cut himself off with a sigh, Betty watching him carefully. "Ever since the day in court that I didn't get a pay out, she's put anywhere from 300 dollars to almost 3,000 dollars in my bank account monthly. I've switched banks so many times, I did everything to try and get her to leave me alone, but she never did. Part of me is grateful for that because I... if I don't want to work, I don't have to. But I hate it because she thinks money can replace my sister." Betty wiped at her face, watching her hands after she did so. "I had no clue I was in her will, she never mentioned it."

She looked up at him, tears brimming her eyes. "Why didn't you just tell me? I've told you so much, yet you... you didn't even tell me your first name."

"I... I hate talking about my money situation. I grew up... I didn't have money growing up. I-I didn't go to my classmates birthday parties because I had nothing to give them and if I asked if I could buy them something or-or make them something, I would get yelled at. By the time I was ten I was able to slip somebody's wallet out of their pocket without them realizing it; that's how we got groceries sometimes." She averted his eyes, taking in a deep breath.

"But no one ever knew so I was able to excel in school and tutor kids and that made me money - good money because it was all rich kids who lived in the suburbs. That got me to college and once I left, my parents had both gotten jobs, good jobs that they could have had when I was home, but they didn't. I was mad at first, but Jelly was... she got raised around a steady income, never having to worry about anything."