Young love

Chapter Eleven

    Betty sat with Eve in her lap. Aero laid, curled up quietly next to them. Cheryl walked in, passing Eve a chocolate bar and sitting next to Veronica on the loveseat. Betty checked her phone, waiting anxiously for Jughead to call. He finally did and she jumped up, passing Eve to Cheryl.
    "Mommy will be right back, she just has to take this phone call," Betty said, kissing Eve on the forehead.
    She walked into her room and took a deep breath before answering the phone call. "Hey, Jug."
    "They just arrested Tallboy for Jake's murder." Tears fell from Betty's eyes, spilling over her cheeks. "Betty? You there?"
    Betty sniffled. "Yeah, I'm just...relieved. That's all. Are you at your office?"
    "Yeah."
    "I'll come and see you."
    "Okay, " Jughead said and Betty hung up.
    "Ronnie, can I talk to you?" Betty asked pulling Veronica into her room.
    "Bee, what is it?"
    "Are you and Tallboy still...an item?"
    "Yes, why?"
    "He's the one who killed Jake."
    Betty's words were fuzzy after that. Veronica made her way to the bathroom and sobbed, tearing the pearls Tallboy gave her for their anniversary off of her neck. She fell to her knees and Betty ran to her side, hugging her close.

    When Betty reached the sheriff's station she ran into Jughead's office. He turned around and smiled at her. She giggled, running into his arms. He spun her around and hugged her.
    "Thank you so much, for helping me find who killed my husband. It...It means everything to me."
    "No, thank you for telling me what you knew. It made everything so much easier. I'm just glad you finally know. I can't imagine how this past year has felt for you."
    Betty gave him a sad smile and hugged him again. "I actually had to ask you something. I know this is weird but I really didn't know what to tell her. Eve has this father-daughter dance at school and she wanted you to take her."
    "Really? What about Archie?"
    Betty shrugged. "I don't know, I guess she's just more attached to you. You don't have to, I just thought I would see if you would."
    "No, I would love that, actually."
    "Really?"
    "Yeah, I love Eve. It sounds like fun. I have one question first."
    "Shoot."
    "Okay, so when Jake passed, how did Eve take it? Because she didn't seem to really know."
    "Oh, um...she knew she just didn't believe us. Not until you told her anyway. She would pick up the phone and just talk like he would answer her. She would sit on the phone for hours just telling him about her day." Tears fell down Betty's cheeks.
    Jughead hugged her again. "That's awful, I can't imagine how you must have felt. How she must have felt."
    "I tried to tell her that he wasn't there but she would just pass me the phone and told me to tell him about my day. So I would, I didn't want her to be sad. So for hours, we would sit on my bed and just talk to him. It was kind of therapeutic if you think about it, but it didn't bring him back."
    Jughead kissed the top of her head and continued to hug her.
    "Jug, could you please move back with us. Jelly Bean can come too if you want. I just, I miss you. We all do."
    "Yeah, I would love that. Jellybean can stay with my parents though." He chuckled.
    Betty smiled up at him.

(I made myself cry when I wrote this chapter)