Us [bughead]

Chapter 6

~Her~

It's easy to say that you want someone dead until it really happens. Especially when you know that the person is going to die. Especially when you could have done something about it. Especially when the person, more or less, was going to be killed. But then again, some people deserve to die for their actions, right?

***

"Betts?" Jughead silently yelled and Betty rushed to the door. She threw herself in his arms and he hugged her tightly. 

"Where were you? I got so worried." She didn't want to know where he had been, didn't want to know what he had planned. But she had to know. 

"I was at Veronica's. Her dad is taking care of the situation." Betty stared at him. Tried to read his mind and understand what they had done. Even though she already knew.

"Is he going to..." Betty lowered her voice. "kill him." She whispered it quietly, so quiet that she wasn't sure Jughead had heard her. Jughead looked at something behind her and then his eyes met hers. He gave her a slight nod and Betty felt her heart stop. She stared at Jughead. Waited for him to tell her that it was all just a sick joke. But he didn't. 

He gave her a slight smile and walked into the house. Leaving Betty alone in the hall. Staring at the door in front of her. What the hell was she supposed to do with that information? Should she stop him? Leonard was a person, a human, with a family, friends and a life. No matter what he had done he was still someone. 

She walked to the kitchen and filled a glass with water. Staring at the darkness outside, wondering what it felt like to be dead. How would they kill Leonard? Would they make it fast? Or make him suffer? Would he scream? Beg them for mercy? Would they listen?

A gentle hand was placed on Betty's hip and she let out a shriek as she turned around. 

"Sorry, I just..." Jughead said. Betty placed her hand in front of her mouth and stared at Jughead.

"You can't do that." She mumbled. "You can't just sneak up on people like that." She breathed. Jughead smiled.

"I didn't know you had become so jumpy." Betty rolled her eyes and poured the rest of the water in the sink, only to fill the glass again and start to drink. A habit she had always had but never known the reason as to why she did it. 

"I haven't." She avoided eye contact with Jughead as she started to clean the dishes from earlier. 

A few minutes of silence followed. Jughead watched as Betty washed and cleaned up, waiting for her to say something. But she didn't. And she kept avoiding eye contact as she walked past him to put a small blue bowl into one of the cupboards. 

"What's wrong?" Jughead finally asked her. Breaking the silence. Betty kept ignoring his worried looks. She thoroughly dried the glass she held in her hands, carefully making sure that not a single inch of it was still damp. "Betty?" Jughead asked after a few silent seconds. 

He walked closer to her and placed himself a few inches away from her. She could feel his breathing against her skin as she stared at the ground beneath them. 

"Betty?" Jughead said and softly lifted her chin up. He looked into her eyes and she felt as if he could see right through her. 

"You don't have to kill him, you know," Betty whispered and Jughead tensed up. 

"What do you mean?" Jughead asked. And then a moment of realization spread across his face and he sighed. "Oh..." She bit her inner cheek and her eyes filled with tears. "Betty...he was going to rape her...he was going to rape Jellybean. My sister. And I...I can't let him do this to other kids." Betty wiped away a tear.