stay away

Part 28

Betty pov

It's been several weeks since Jughead and I talked about our pasts. We now deal with each other differently and try to make life as easy as possible for each other. However, I have noticed that Jughead wants to protect me at all costs, it is a bit annoying but somehow sweet. We spend a lot of time together but when we aren't, he is always with Jellybean and does his best to make her life as a pregnant woman as easy as he could. Her baby belly is now clearly visible and the days when everything was easier for her were over. But Jughead cares for her and is the loving brother that he always was, while he had to be rather hard on his serpents. The mood has been bad for days and the slightest spark started a chaos reaction and made the gang ready for violence. Nobody really knows why, because no one has noticed anything suspicious or could say why the people are freaking out. For me it wasn't always pleasant to get close to some of the members, especially when Jughead wasn't around. I got some nasty looks or insulting comments, which I of course didn't respond to but they made me a little nervous. Obviously I didn't tell Jug about it, otherwise he would probably kill everyone, but I had to talk to someone about it. I decided to take the harmless option first and told Veronica and Cheryl, who had similar problems, but not as much as I had. Did the Serpents not want me here? If so, why?

One night my girls, Kevin and I were sitting in the Whyte Wyrm, recovering from the stressful day we all had. It wasn't crowded in the bar because it was the middle of the week but some guests were still there and enjoying themselves on the dance floor or at the bar. We also waited eagerly for our partners, who were all on a mission. So while we sat there and enjoyed the cocktails the bartender served us, we talked about this and that.

"Betty is the rumor actually true that Bret quit his job at the hospital?" asked Cheryl curiously and with big eyes while I wondered again where she got this information from.

"No, it's not true, he just takes time off after, you know what, happened." I replied and didn't want to go into too much detail, as I wanted to forget that evening as soon as possible, but Kevin didn't agree.

"You mean after Jughead beat him half to death. I mean I don't like Bret, he's selfish, pushy and annoying, but even he doesn't deserve that." he told our group his opinion, whose eyes were immediately on me. I felt guilty instantly even though it wasn't even my fault, at least not directly. Of course I was the main reason why Jughead had attacked him in the first place but I tried to prevent worse.

"Excuse me, after what he did to Betty, I would probably have killed him immediately. Nobody insults my friends and gets away unscathed." Cheryl made her point and didn't let us continue to talk about this story, for which I was incredibly thankful.

"Ok topic change, how are things with you and Sweet Pea? Did he finally say it?" I asked excitedly and hoped for a positive answer from Veronica, but her look didn't promise much.

"No, he still hasn't said it. It's been 2 days since I said I love him, but so far nothing came, just a 'cool'. What am I doing wrong?" Veronica sighed, drooping her head and didn't really looked at one of us. I was able to put myself in her shoes because there were other relationships where I felt the same way, but I was sure that Veronica and Sweet Pea had the same chemistry for each other and he felt the same for her like she felt for him. Unfortunately it took too long for her to get it out of his mouth.

"V I'm sure he loves you just as much as you do, but this is all new to him and he doesn't know how to deal with all those feelings for you. You have to be a little bit more patient, but if he still doesn't say anything about love in the next days, I will kick his ass personally." I joked and tried to lift the mood, which succeeded to my satisfaction. We all laughed heartily until I discovered Ginger at the end of the bar and my mood got worse again. Since I know Jughead she is hanging on him like a leech and tries to get his attention. Even now that he had announced that we are a couple, she still tries everything possible to entice him and win him over.