Always & Forever | Bughead Oneshots

The One Who Always Stayed

welcome back, bbs! enjoy! (Dandelionbaby wrote a bit of the second paragraph and it'd be against my moral code to not mention that.)

Song Credit: "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5

Time had done her well. Not only did Betty grow into her intelligence, but she was infamous around campus; star student, school organizer, editor-in-chief of The Blue & Gold, and of course, the popularity that came with everything. And Jughead? Time seemed to be working against him.

No matter how hard he worked he was plagued as the outsider-- last to be chosen, last to present in any given class, and save for his best friend since kindergarten, he was just...lonely. "Hey, Juggie! Over here!" Betty exclaimed as she shot up from her lunch bench, motioning for the boy to walk over as Veronica Lodge rolled her eyes and whispered, "This again?" to whichever fake friend was next to her.

"Hey, Betty, what's up?" he asked, pulling his headphones down to his neck as the blonde grabbed hold of his arm and said, "Come sit with us." One look at the table and Jughead knew he didn't belong amongst the jocks and class clowns. "Maybe another time, Betty, I have some homework to do."

Betty looked nearly defeated at his words, saying a gentle, "Oh, okay," and letting her hand fall from his arm. "That's okay, I'll see you later," were her last words before Jughead walked away and Betty sat back down. "Close call," said Veronica to the girl on her right, the two of them snickering at the comment.

"Guys, stop. He's a great guy," Betty refuted, a despaired look on her face as she got back to her lunch. "Your date might get a little jealous," Veronica replied, shrugging her shoulders. "My what?" The blonde replied, locking her eyes on the girl in front of her. "I told Chuck you'd love to go out with him and he's meeting you at Pop's tonight," she answered with a sly smile.

"Veronica, no. I told you no, that I don't wanna go on a date with him, why would you say that to him?" she asked, her nails burrowing into her palms. Veronica shrugged as she grabbed a fry and replied, "You're lonely." "I am not--" "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," came the words of Chuck Clayton as he stopped by their table.

"Chuck!" Veronica greeted with a faux (or maybe sincere-- with her, it was hard to tell) greeting. "Betty, look, it's Chuck." "I know who it is, thank you," the blonde nearly gritted through her teeth. "So, I'll meet you at Pop's tonight around 6:00, 'kay?" he asked. Betty took a breath, about to explain before Veronica cut her off and said, "She'll be there," with a smile. She turned to her and smiled, almost out of spite as Betty's eyes began glowing red.

"Are you serious, Veronica?" She said, not going along with the fun and games Veronica was playing. "Oh my god, B," she dragged out.

"Relax. You're so boring, I'm doing you a favor." "I didn't ask you to!" "That's why it's a favor," she shrugged. Overwhelmed with rage, Betty stood up, wanting to slap Veronica in the face, but chosing to walk away instead.

---

6:00p came and Betty hated that she was sitting in a booth at Pop's, waiting for her date to show. She didn't even like Chuck, and Veronica knew that. "What's the point of dating if you don't even like the other person?" she though as her nails tapped her milkshake glass. She'd been sitting in the same spot for a half hour, showing up right around 5:50p because she was nothing if not punctual, and her date was taking forever.

B: He's not even here.

She waited until Veronica saw her message and replied, getting angrier every second Veronica took to type.

V: he'll show. relax

She could only stop and roll her eyes until Veronica started typing again. "What now? What could she possibly have to say?"

V: text him

The next message was a phone number, one Betty presumed to be Chuck's. She sighed and typed out a message, contemplating whether or not to send it.

B: Hey, Chuck, it's Betty. I'm at Pop's-- are you coming?

Read. No typing. No response, not even a bullshit excuse. Just read. She scoffed before taking one last drink of her milkshake, pulling out her wallet and heading out. She stopped by Pop Tate pn her way out, handing him a ten dollar bill and saying, "For my milkshake, keep the change. Thank you," before walking out and tearing up as she stood face to face with the truth: she had been stood up.

Betty was tired of it, all of it-- Veronica always telling her what to do, jocks thinking she could be the center of their jokes, the fact that she couldn't even sit with her best friend at lunch without getting heat for it. She let her thoughts carry her to the park, not even noticing how much mascara had flooded down from her face until she put her phone to her ear.

"Hey, I'm at the park. Can you come pick me up?" she asked into the phone dryly. "Yeah, of course," Jughead answered, getting up from his couch and slinging on his jacket. "I'm heading out right now, I should be there in a few." "'Kay," she replied before inhaling deeply, sitting on top of a picnic table.

---

He was there within minutes, the sounds of his motorcycle pulling Betty out of her thoughts as she watched him walk over to her. He took his jacket off, ready to drape it over her as soon as he sat beside her. "What're you doing out here?" He asked, pulling the jacket over her shoulders and helping her arms through the sleeves. "I had a date tonight. A stupid date that I didn't even want, or set up, mind you."

"I'm guessing it didn't go super well," Jughead replied before pulling his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and grabbing his lighter. "It didn't go anything-- I got stood up. Can I get one?" she asked, holding her hand out towards his cigarettes. "Since when do you smoke?" Jughead chuckled, holding his hand in front of his lighter as a flame came from it. "I think I'm due for one," Betty sighed, her head in her hands.

He chuckled and handed her a stick, holding the lighter to the other end once she had it between her lips. He was surprised when the blonde inhaled without bursting into a coughing fit and figured that the year or so of watching him smoke had caught on. "I didn't even like him, you know, but still, I'm so mad." "That's completely understandable," Jughead replied, his hand on her back as his other brought his cigarette to his lips.

"I'm so...just done. Done with toxic friends and asshole jocks, I just--" Betty stopped, sighing and taking another drag before saying. "I'm starting to think all I need is myself and you." Jughead swooned at her words and fixed his jacket around her. "Thought you said you were done with shitty guys," he replied with a chuckle. "Oh, stop," Betty said playfully, nudging his arm as she took another hit.

"You're not a shitty guy, you're..." her voice trailed, looking for the right words before turning to look at him. "You're..." And in a move of impulse, she wrapped her arm around the back of his neck, pulling herself closer to him until their lips met-- a blend of strawberry lip gloss and nicotine hitting the both of them. "Betty," Jughead breathed, his eyebrows furrowed and lips smeared with her gloss.

"I'm...wow, I'm sorry. Just forget that happen--" Before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted with a kiss, this one longer and deeper. "Don't apologize," he whispered against her lips as they departed, resting their foreheads against each other. In that moment, Betty realized she was right-- all she needed was him and herself.