Moving On

C h a p t e r 1 1

The next morning, I was discharged from the hospital. I left with crutches. Veronica helped me out and then, she drove me home.
"Thanks, V." I said struggling to get out of the car.
"Jughead, just wait. Let me help you."
"Stop."
"Stop what?"
"Pretending everything is alright. I went to the woods for no reason at all. If there was any chance she was alive there's no way she is now." I began to break down and cry right there in the car. Veronica just held me. It was embarrassing but, I didn't care.
"I'm so sorry, Jughead. I'm so sorry." She cried. I felt so bad. I was getting Veronica to break down too. We continued to hug for a few more minutes. Then, she helped me out of the car and into the house.
"Thanks, Veronica. You can leave now." I said sniffling as I walked inside.
"Jughead, you cannot be alone right now."
"I'm fine, Veronica. I'm doing just fine."
"Jughead, your a house of cards is waiting to fall. Let me help you. Please."
"Fine. Just, please. No more talk about Betty. If we do, we can't act like she's some kind of legacy. We don't exactly know she's dead."
"But, Jug-"
"Veronica, I'm not ready to face it. Until I am, I'm going to continue to pretend like she's still missing."
"So, what? No body, no crime?"
"Now your starting to sound like Donna."
"Haha." She laughed as I sat down on the couch. Then, we both looked at each other that's it
"Donna." We both said out loud.
"It's been years. Where do you think she is?"
"I honestly have no idea, Jug."
"She went into hiding when Bret died."
"Oh."
"Yeah. I'll have to look into it."
"Okay." Veronica left 5 minutes later. I pretty much laid on the couch all day. Polly came over for lunch, then Alice came over for dinner later. Julie laid on the couch with me and we watched cartoons together. Julie was almost asleep when she woke back up again. It was about 10:00 at night.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah baby?"
"What happened to mommy?" I almost broke down.
"If only I knew, baby."
"Is she dead?"
"I have no idea, Bug." I saw Julie begin to cry.
"Why does Tommy have a mommy? And why does Kiara and Scarlett have two mommies? Why can't I have one daddy? I don't understand." She started to cry. I laid her down on my chest and kissed her head.
"I'm so sorry, baby." I started to cry.
"What happened, daddy?"
"Baby I don't even know. When you were a baby, I took you to grandma's one night. When I came back home to see mommy, she was gone."
"Did she leave?"
"I really don't know, baby. If I did, I'd do everything I could to bring her home. And that's a promise, Juliet." She began to cry even harder as she laid in my arms.
"I love you, baby."
"I love you too, daddy."
"Can you just please, let me be enough for you, Julie?"
"Okay?"
"Okay." Julie sniffled. We both fell asleep on the couch that night. I woke up around midnight and ended up bringing Juliet up to her room after I took some Advil. Then, I went to sleep in my bed. I then woke up around 2:30 am. The dog was barking.
"Hot Dog!" I yelled. He continued to bark. Finally, I got up and limped down the stairs.
"Hot Dog!!" I yelled once again. I got down the stairs and I noticed it was cold. Chills ran down my body. It was creepy. The door was swung wide open. There was nothing on the door that showed it was broken into. I then closed the door and locked it. As I walked passed my office, I still felt the cold air. The dog continued to bark. He was in my office.
"Hot D-" I leaned in the office and I was shocked. The window was shattered. Little shards of glass were dropping to the ground. Glass was all over my desk, the chair. My laptop was open. The email was open. The email had been deleted. Just gone. I was so confused. For so many reasons. My first instinct to call the cops. I called 911 and soon, the fbi was at the house. There were police cars everywhere. Sirens were blaring loudly. That's when above it all, I heard a faint,
"Daddy?"