I Hate You, I Love You - Bughead

Chapter Sixteen

This was it. She'd had enough. Betty's emotions were everywhere. Jughead Jones was a head fuck and a fuckboy. And she was done with him. For good.

Betty soon started to realise why it was she'd never wanted a boyfriend. Because of this. This is how boys treat girls. And on top of everything else, there was no way Betty was able to deal with a boyfriend aswell.

Once she heard what he said, and locked herself in the bedroom to change, she decided she was over him. In every possible way. Not as 'lovers' or 'dating' or even friends. She wouldn't talk to him, why should she?

So after she got changed, she made her way downstairs as normal, and sat on the couch with the others as they watched TV.

Betty knew that Jughead realised something was up. He kept repeatedly trying to talk to her. So, he came over and sat next to her and started conversation.

"How's it going, doofus?" Jughead gently shoved Betty's arm as he said it, but she didn't even look at him, nor bother to reply.

"What's up? Did I do something?" He asked.

Betty scoffed, still without looking at him.
"I don't know, did you?"

"What? I'm so confused right now." He replied.

"You're confused?"

"Okay, can we stop with the rhetorical questions, please. Just tell me what's up, Betty." He sounded concerned, and almost worried.

"You should know, Jughead. I may be within a distance, but that doesn't mean my sense of sound just goes. I can still hear." Betty's voice started to waver a little as she recalled what he said.
It's Betty, come on. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

When Betty dared to look, she noticed Jughead didn't answer her, and she also noticed he realised what she was talking about. He just looked down, not wanting to meet her eye.

"I'm not a toy, Jug—" Betty started.

"I know, Betty! I know! You've never been that to me," he interrupted, still looking away from her. He wondered if Veronica and Sweet Pea were still there, shit. He forgot they could've just been listening. But they weren't. Of course they took it as a chance to sneak off somewhere.

"Jughead, the least you could do is look at me right now, after how you've treated me!" Betty's voice raised a volume or 2.

He seemed hesitant to look at her, until she spoke again.

"Unless, I'm that unattractive that you simply can't." Betty knew it was a low blow, but somehow it was a genuine thought.

He looked up at her instantly then.

"What? Was that serious? Betty, I know I've treated you badly. I know I owe you a lot more than what I'm giving you, but that was just impossible. Why would you think that I'd ever think that?" He asked, in disbelief.

"I don't know, maybe because of how you've been throwing me around, and saying stuff to MY friend once I'm out of the room. Oh, come on, it's just Betty is it? Nothing will happen because we're just friends, right? Oh wait, I forgot, barely."

"Betty, I know what I've done, and I know what I've said. So you don't need to remind me of how much of a dick I've been. You don't think I know that?" He fired.

Betty stopped talking for a minute as she stared at the advertisement on TV. Dental hygiene. Mouthwash. Gum disease. Electrical toothbrush. Blah, blah, blah. She refocused and then sighed, turning slowly to Jughead, who was waiting with an indistinguishable look in his eyes.

"I do think you know that. Actually, I know you know that. But I'm done asking you to do something about it. I'm done begging you to apologise. Because, I've recently realised that if you really wanted to make things right, you would, on your own. You don't need my encouragement and I'm definitely not being at your beck-and-call anymore." There was something fiery about the way Betty spoke, and although she didn't necessarily intend to, there was sass in her tone, and Jughead looked almost disappointed. Although, she didn't know if it was toward her, or himself.

"Betty, I—I—" he hesitated.

"Come on then, spit it out," Betty said.

"I don't want to hurt you, I've never wanted to, and that's why I did it," he answered.

Betty felt so annoyed that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She felt like laughing it was that stupid, and crying out of anger.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Betty started, "you don't want to hurt me? So, you talk shit about me to my best friend and treat me like a slut? You've hurt me repeatedly, Jughead. So, I think it's a bit late for that now. You may as well just tell the truth. What is it anyway? You're frustrated? You just want a hookup? Maybe play with this girl's emotions to get her crazy about you?"

Jughead rubbed his two eyes with his thumbs and slightly shook his head.
He took a deep breath.
"Betty, just listen to me. I don't want to hurt you. For one, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and I'm not lying. I've had eyes for you from the first time we saw each other, in the hallway at SouthSide High. I knew you were way out of my league, so I thought pretending to hate you would be a better decision than getting rejected. Then, when we came here, I realised that wasn't going to work, because I couldn't stop thinking about you, especially because you were here. So, I decided, if I talked to you, and we were friends, maybe the feelings would... I don't know... fade. And I'd just consider you a friend. But of course they didn't. And I couldn't help myself from flirting with you... and then kissing you, in the hot tub. It was at that moment, I had to. And after, I thought the best thing to do was run, so I said to forget about it. That's when I realised I was kind of messing with you, and I didn't want to hurt you, Betty, by being with me. When I kissed you yesterday, it was this weird feeling, like it had to happen. Then, I told Veronica what you heard, because, again, I thought, I don't want to hurt her. But now, I've realised I've hurt you even more by doing this to you. And I'm so fucking sorry, Betts. I'll understand if you don't want to talk to me for the rest of our trip. So, I guess the answer to your questions is yes, I do like you, and I have strong feelings for you. I hope you can forgive me, but I'll understand if you don't..."

It was a long speech, and a lot for Betty to take in. He did like her? What the hell. She was so confused, and was just speechless, not answering him as she stared at him, into his hopeful eyes.

But he seemed to get the wrong idea, the spark in his iris faded,

"Yeah, don't worry about it, I probably wouldn't either," he spoke quickly, rising from his place on the couch and leaving the room.

And Betty was left alone.

She so badly wanted to stop him,
No, Jughead. Of course I forgive you! I've liked you from I first laid eyes on you. I wanted those kisses as much as you did. It broke my heart when you said you didn't like me to V. But I want it to happen now. I'm ready, I'm ready to be with you. Because my feelings for you are stronger than anything else.

It really was true. She wanted to.
But she didn't. She didn't run after him and spill her heart out. She stayed where she was. And the weird thing was...

She didn't know why.

A/N
Heyyyyyy! Thanks for being patient with me and waiting.
This took me LOOOONGGG to write so I hope you enjoy this longer more juicier chapter.

Thanks so much again for all your love X

~ @xbugheadsx ❤️