Them [bughead]

~Him~

Jughead rushed inside the diner and looked at Jellybean. 
"I have to go back to Riverdale." He mumbled and she looked at him. He knew she was filled with questions. "I'll drive you home, okay?" It was on the way to Riverdale. He really had to get to Betty as soon as possible. Something was really wrong with her. 
"What happened?" Jellybean asked and he looked at her with a slight smile, trying his best not to freak out. She had sounded so distant and...not okay. And he needed her to be okay.
"Nothing special." He said. 
"Was it her?" Jughead nodded and Jellybean sighed. "Will you come back to me?" Jughead smiled and rubbed her head. 
"Of course. I'll be back before you know it." He said. 
"Yeah?" He nodded and sat down in the car. She sat down beside him and looked outside at the darkness that had surrounded them. "Mom said that to you, and she never came back." Jughead looked at his baby sister. 
"I'm not mom." Jellybean kept staring outside. 
"I hate her for not taking you with us." Jughead started to drive. He thought about his answer for a few minutes.
"So do I." He simply replied. They sat in silence until he stopped outside her house. 
"Promise you'll be back." Jughead looked at his sister. 
"I promise." She nodded and ran inside. 

He made a right turn and was finally on the road where Betty said she had been on. He had called her many times and sent a few texts so he was over the moon happy when she called him. Their call had only lasted for a few minutes but already turned all sad. He knew she was tired and sad. And he knew she needed someone by her side.
"I'm sorry Betty, I never meant to hurt you." He said. It was true. He wanted to take it all back. He wanted to start over with her and re-do everything. Make everything right. But how could he ever bring Polly back? How could he ever take back the words he said to her? He felt like such an idiot.
"But you did." She sobbed and he felt a tear leave his eye. He cursed over the fact that he was crying and quickly wiped it away. All he wanted to do was hug her. 
"I know." He replied as he drove over the bridge that went to Riverdale. Beneath him was the water of Sweetwater River. The place where some kids had found Jason's body. 
"Goodbye Jug." She said. 
"Don't..." He heard a click. "hang up." He whispered to no one special. He watched as the indicator on the speedometer moved closer and closer to the speed limit as he drove faster. He had to get to her. She was wasted, and broken. And he had to make sure she was okay. He watched as the water poured down from the sky in the darkness. His heart was racing and he felt more worried than ever. He needed to make sure she was okay. Needed to hold her. 

He was all alone on the road and waited to see any sign of her. Eyes focused in the far distant and an aching heart. He tried to keep the hope up. Even though he knew she wouldn't pick up the phone he called one more time. After what felt like hours he came to the voicemail. 
"Betty, please call me back. I need you to be okay. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please be okay." He said into the phone. He felt like crying. "I love you." He whispered. He was so close to a mental breakdown but he knew he had to keep it together. He didn't even remember the last time he cried, like really cried. Maybe it was that day that his mother told him she would come back to get him, when he watched her drive away. His eyes found two lights in the darkness and he instantly knew it was a car. He begged that it was her car as he pulled over by the other side of the road. He ran over it to the car and found the door to the driver's seat open. His heart dropped when he turned around only to see a blonde girl laying in the ditch. He was sure he was going to throw up. His heart was racing and he could swear it would break his skin and fall out of him. 
"Betty!" He shouted in the dark but got no response. He rushed to the ditch and sat down beside her in the wet grass. "Betty?" He said and laid his hand on her. She was cold. "Betts, please." He begged. "Damn it." He tried to get her pulse. And when he did his heart slowed down and he put his jacket over her. "Thank god. Thank fucking god." He took her into his arms and carried her to the car. Halfway there she moved and opened her eyes. 
"Jughead?" She whispered. 
"It's okay. I'm here now. I'll take you home." He heard her mumble something inaudible. He tried to hear what she was saying and eventually he did, and when he did it broke his heart. 
"No, no, no." She said the simple word over and over again. He put her down inside the car. "Stop!" She shouted and he stopped for a second. "I don't want to be with you!" She slurred and he tried to keep his mouth shut. He put the heater on and started to drive. "Why do you always have to fucking show up all the time?" Betty yelled and Jughead sighed. 
"Because I need to save you all the time." His fear had turned into anger. Anger that she scared him. Anger that he fucked everything up. Anger that she didn't answer. Anger that she was drunk. Anger that she was alone in the middle of the night. But most of all, anger that she made him love her. 
"I never fucking ask for you to save me." Betty mumbled. 
"Well I have to! Don't I? You put yourself in such fucking stupid situations!" He yelled back to her and she hid her face in her hands. 
"I don't want you to save me Jughead." She said. 
"What do you expect me to do when you make me fucking love you? Leave you when you're in fucking danger?" He yelled. It was true. How could she ever expect him to leave her alone when she's in danger? He would do anything for her. Literally anything. He would blow up the entire town if she only asked him. He would do anything...except show her his love for her. Which was all she really wanted. But how was he supposed to know that? And how was he supposed to show that when he fucked everything up? Ruined everything he touched?
"What did you say?" Betty gasped. 
"I asked 'what do you expect me to do?'" He sighed. 
"No, after that." She said. 
"'Leave you when you're in danger?" He knew what she wanted him to say but he couldn't. He shouldn't have opened his mouth to begin with. He loved her, he truly did. 
"Before that Jughead." She said impatiently. 
"That you made me love you." He whispered. 
"You love me?" He kept staring outside, unsure of what to say or do. So he kept quiet. "Fine, don't answer me then."
"I'll take you to Veronica." He mumbled and she rolled her eyes. 
"Why are you so afraid to love me?" She asked but he just ignored her. 

"What the hell?" Veronica said when she opened the door and found Jughead beside Betty. He had insisted to follow her to the door, to make sure she was okay. Or to just get to spend more time with her, even though it was only for a few seconds. 
"Hi." Betty said with a voice that sounded happy. But Jughead knew it was only hiding her pain. Betty looked at the ground. "I had a fight with my mom, is it okay if I...?" She didn't want to ask the quiestion. 
"Yes, yes of course. Go inside, I'll be right behind you." Veronica said and dragged Betty inside. Jughead watched as Betty went further inside and Veronica stayed to glare at him. "What did you do?" 
"I didn't do anything." 
"And I'm a cow." Veronica scoffed. 
"Well then moo." Jughead scoffed back and she sighed. 
"Seriously, what did you do?" Jughead sighed and looked inside to see if Betty was there. She wasn't. 
"Her mother didn't invite her to Polly's funeral. She found out today and ran away. She is wasted and cold. Give her water, a blanket and some tea. Make sure to give her lots of aspirin and even more water. Just make sure she stays warm. And don't leave her alone. She needs sleep, lots and lots of sleep. She looked exhausted. And once again, don't leave her." Jughead demanded and Veronica stared at him. 
"You uh really care about her huh?" Jughead glared at her. 
"No..." He said but Veronica knew he was lying. "yes. Don't tell her. It...uhm...it's easier if she thinks I hate her." Jughead mumbled. Veronica closed the door behind her and walked outside. 
"What do you mean?" Jughead bit his lip and shook his head. 
"I ruin everything I touch. I don't want to ruin her as well." It sounded stupid as he said it out loud. But he didn't care. It made sense to him. "It's just better for her this way, trust me." Veronica looked at him with pity. "I'm too fucked up for her." Veronica smiled a sad smile. 
"Listen Jughead, all I know is that she loves you and that love conquers it all." She said and Jughead shook his head. He wanted what she said to be true. But it wasn't. It never would be. 
"If she doesn't remember that I took her here don't tell her." Veronica nodded. "Thank you." 
"Where will you go now? Home?" Jughead didn't really know why she cared. 
"To my sister." Veronica raised her brows. 
"You have a sister?" Jughead nodded. 
"Yeah, a baby sister." Veronica smiled. "Over in Greendale." Veronica nodded. 
"So I can't call you if something happens?" Jughead looked at her and his face filled with seriousness. 
"When it comes to Betty, you can always call me." Veronica shook her head. 
"You are head over heels for her." 
"I wish I weren't." He said and walked back to his car. Deep down he wished that Betty had heard the conversation and that they would be back together. That they would take his car and drive all the way to New York. Then they'd move there. She would become a journalist and he would become a writer. And maybe in a parallell universe, far, far away, that was what was happening. And he wished so deeply that he lived in that universe instead of this. But he didn't. 

He sent a text to Alice, saying Betty was okay and that she stayed over at Veronica's and also were her car was. He drove back to Greendale the same night. Feeling lucky that he got to spend some time with Betty. Even though it was under the worse circumstances. Because after all, he got to see her, touch her. And most importantly, he knew she was alive, even for an hour. When he parked his car outside the mansion that his mother lived in he silently walked inside. He went upstairs and laid down on the matress after he changed from the wet clothes to dry ones. He looked at the clock and sighed. 
"Jughead?" A little voice asked and Jughead looked at his sister, who sat up in the huge bed. 
"Yeah?" He wondered. 
"You came back." She said happily and laid back down again. 
"Of course I did."

Maybe he would go back to Betty after all
Maybe Veronica was right 
Maybe love do conquer it all?