Southside Boy

In My Arms

"Alright, dinner is served" I say as I come into the dining room and place the last of the food on the table.
"Looks great Mrs. C" Jughead says.
"Thank you Jughead" I smile.
Hal insisted Betty invite Jughead over for dinner tonight since he felt bad about missing the last dinner. Not that I mind, Jughead is a sweet boy, not at all like his father was as a teenager.
FP was only ever sweet with me, cold and distant with everyone else. He was Riverdale's resident bad boy but with me he was someone completely different. I was the only one who had ever saw the real FP. The sweet, caring, gentle one. The one who put me above anything and everyone else. The one who cared for me more than anyone ever has, even Hal.
"Can I just say how happy I am that you two met?" Hal says, causing me to snap out of my thoughts. "I mean we always hoped Betty would find someone like you, and here you are"
"Well can I just say that Betty is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. You know before I met Betty I was always so distant and kept to myself. But with her I opened up more. Also I never really had a relationship with my dad after he and my mom split" I turn my full attention to him as he brings up FP, curious to see what he's going to say. "After my mom and Jellybean left my dad became an alcoholic. He was hardly home and when he was he would drink and then he'd get angry over little things. I always felt like the reason he was mad was because of me. He always felt awful about getting angry and yelling, his dad abused him as a child and he vowed to never be like him" Jugheads story makes me think of a time back when I was a teen with FP...
{Flashback}
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I'm woken up by a tapping on my window. At first I think it's just the rain. But it doesn't stop. So I reluctantly get out of bed and open up my curtain. Scared of what could possibly be at my window, a murderer, a robber, a rabid animal. But I'm shocked when I open it and see a soaking wet FP.
I open the window quickly.
"Hey, what are you doing here? Come in, it's raining, you're going to get sick" I step aside so he can climb through the window.
"I needed somewhere to go. You're the only person I could think of... I hope it's okay" he says, sounding like a completely different person.
"Of course it okay. Are you okay?" I turn on the lamp beside my bed so we're not completely in the dark. When I turn to face him again I notice he has a black eye and a cut on his cheek. "Baby what happened to you?" I say, touching his cheek gently.
"My dad happened to me" he looks down at the floor, not wanting to meet my eyes.
"Your dad did this?" He just nods. "Stay here I'll be right back" I open my bedroom door, trying to be as quiet as possible as I walk to the bathroom. I open the cabinet underneath the sink, pulling out a small first aid kit. I walk  back to my room, hoping my parents don't hear me, or FP for that matter. I open the door to my room and see FP sitting on my bed with his head in his hands.
I kneel down on the floor in front of him and open up the first aid kit. I pull his hands away so I can see his face.
"This may hurt a bit" I say as I begin the clean the cut on his cheek. He breathes in sharply and I know it must sting. I don't know how he got this cut on his cheek, but it's pretty bad. Not stitches-worthy, but definitely painful. 
"Anywhere else?" I ask, gesturing to any place he may have any more cuts or bruises. He nods before pulling off his jacket. Instantly I see the shoulder of his shirt is stained with blood. He pulls his shirt off and I see the large bruised gash on his shoulder. I also see all the bruises and marks, both old and new, caused by his father.
I begin to clean up the gash on his shoulder and he bites down on his lip, squeezing his eyes shut tightly from the pain of it. It's mostly stopped bleeding but not entirely, so I wrap his shoulder with a bandage.
"All done" I say, kneeling back down in front of him again.
"Thanks" he says smiling weakly at me.
"So, do you want to talk about what happened tonight?"
"My dad came home, drunk, as usual. But he had also been using drugs, hard ones. He busted in the door and I was sitting on the couch. He just started yelling all these awful things at me. He came over to me and yanked me up by the collar of my shirt. Started screaming at me. He punched me, hard, which explains the cut on the cheek. Then he shoved me, landed on my shoulder and dislocated it. And then he just... stopped. Grabbed a beer and went to his room, and I bolted... Now I'm here" I don't say anything, I know he's not finished, and besides nothing I say or do could make this better for him. "It was like something came over him, I mean he's screamed at me and hurt me before when he was drunk, but it's never been this bad. I... I thought..." he stops not wanting to finish his sentence.
"You thought what?" I hold onto his hand, hoping to make him feel some kind of comfort.
"I thought he was going to kill me Alice" he says, fear and pain clear in his voice. "He just had this look in his eyes. It was like he wasn't my dad then, it was like he was someone completely different"
I don't say anything, I can't think of anything to say. So instead of words I place my arms around him and he holds onto me tight.
"What did I ever do to deserve you?" He mumbles.
"I ask myself that same question every single day" I say and he leans back, looking up at me.
"Thank you" he says, and we both know he's not just thanking me for bandaging his wounds. "For everything"
I smile. His hand reaches my cheek and he kisses me softly.
"Let's go to bed" I say, knowing he's had a long, exhausting night. He nods and stands up. He takes off his still wet jeans, leaving him in his boxers, the only semi-dry piece of clothing he has. I turn off the lamp and  get into my bed, FP lays down beside me. His arms instantly wrap around me.
"Goodnight" I say, running my fingers through his wet hair.
"Goodnight" he says before kissing me softly. He lays his head in the space between my neck and shoulder, his arms still holding me tight.
I fall asleep, happy to know he's safe and in my arms.
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A.N: I just wanted to say thank you all so much for over 2k reads. ❤️