(For those that were/are confused, Betty had a flashback while she was asleep in the previous part)
Later that day...
Jughead Pov:
We drove in silence, my eyes focused on the road as Betty stared absentmindedly out the window. I bit my lip, thinking of reasons why she may have been crying earlier, but not coming to any plausible conclusions. I shot her a quick glance. Her soft, pink lips formed a frown, her eyebrows creased slightly. Though she wasn't looking at me, I was able to draw up an emotion from her eyes; remorse. She was guilty about something.
I knew that look; she had the same look when she heartlessly broke up with me, but I hadn't realized that until then. I shook the feeling of pity and slight confusion off as I remember everything that she had said to me and the way that she had treated me. I pulled up into the orphanage parking lot, shifting the gear into park before stepping out. We walked to the entrance, and I held the door open for her as she entered. She offered me a quiet "thank you", before we got to the receptionist's desk.
We walked through rows and rows of cribs and small cots, dozens of eyes staring up at us longingly. It filled me with sadness, the fact that all of these children were unwanted or had lost their parents. I would love to permanently adopt one, but I can't raise a kid alone, so that wasn't happening any time soon.
Betty and I hadn't actually talked about whether or not we wanted an infant or a toddler, but it seemed as if our decision had been quickly made when Betty and I passed one cot in particular. There was a little girl, a brunette braid draped over her shoulder as she sat patiently on the bed, looking at her hands as she fidgeted. She was clearly unhappy, her nose scrunching as she fought back tears. She couldn't have been any older than 3, but she held back.
Betty's eyes glossed over as she walked closer to the side of the cot, kneeling down to make eye contact with the small child. "Hi. My name's Betty. What's your name, Honey?". The girl glanced up slightly, her response spoken in an almost inaudible voice. "I-I'm Lola.". Her big blue eyes looked up into mine as I made my way next to Betty. "My name's Jughead", I stated quietly, turning my head as I saw Betty smile at me for the first time since we've been forced together and, not to mention, in the past 5 years. It was incredibly heart-warming, and I felt butterflies in my stomach, but I couldn't focus on that right then.
I turned back to face the girl named Lola. "Would you want to come home with us, Sweetie? Will you let us take care of you?", I asked. I wanted her to have a choice. Seeing as I had been constantly broken in the past, I didn't want to force her into something she didn't want. A timid smile stretched across her face before it dropped again, her expression almost fearful. "You-You'd want m-me?", she asked. The social worker there cleared her throat, causing me to look at her as she signaled me to stand up so that she could tell me something.
"She was abused in her old home. She came her about a month ago. Her parents were constantly hitting her, telling her how unloved she was and that they wish she'd never been born. They eventually got tired, leaving her here with us.", she whispered. Tears began spilling down my face as I gave a slow nod, leaning back down to talk to Lola. I looked into her deep, blue eyes as I offered her my hands for her to take, which she did hesitantly. "We would love to have you with us, Lola. And I promise, I-we will protect you. We don't want to hurt you.".
She looked distrustingly and questioningly into my eyes, her own softening when she seemed to see that I was telling her the truth. She gave a small, somewhat cheerful nod. "Y-Yes please.", she said. Betty shone yet another smile at me before she took one of her hands from me. We left the orphanage, now a "family" of three.
🥺 Soft babies.
