Bughead Oneshots✨

Journey to heal✨

Betty woke up to the sound of Jughead gasping for breath and reached her arm over, eyes still closed, only to feel the slippery skin of his chest against her fingertips. After her thoughts caught up with her, she sat up to see Jughead tossing and turning, duvet down to his waist, his entire torso covered in a sheen of sweat. Betty began to panic, seeing the intense crease between her husbands eyebrows and hearing the barely there whimpers coming out of his mouth, in a silent cry for help.
"Juggie..." Betty sighed, heartbroken at the sight. She hated seeing him like this. This was a rare occasion, a painful one nonetheless but rare. She knew better than to wake him when he was in a state like this, as much as she hates it she just has to leave him to come to consciousness by himself. Betty slowly got up from her side of the bed and went to fill up the empty glass on Jughead's nightstand in the bathroom. Just as she was turning off the tap she heard a loud gasp and the duvet ruffling. Quickly rushing to her husband's side, seeing him fumbling around, clearly searching for his wife.
"Hey hey hey. Shhh...you're okay. I'm right here, baby." She whispered into his temple, gently placing her hand on his neck as she kneeled on the floor next to the bed. Jughead reached down with tears in his eyes, cupping her cheeks and lifting her gently so that he could place his forehead against hers. She understood that he wanted her close to him so she slowly got up and crawled to straddle his lap so that he could feel her heartbeat.
"You're okay. You're okay...you're here with me." Jughead whispered into her hair.
"That's it, honey. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here with you. You can feel my heartbeat." She whispered, lips grazing his forehead as she spoke. Slowly, Jughead was able to calm his breathing by listening to Betty's heartbeat against his chest.
"I'm so sorry, Juggie. I wish you hadn't had to go through that. I'm so sorry. I should have done something." Betty spoke, sorrowfully, tears gathering in her eyes.
"It's not your fault, Betty." Jughead spoke, astonished. He pulled his head out from where it was tucked in her neck and rested it on her forehead, both looking into each other's misty eyes.
"I can't help it, Jug, I feel so guilty that I'm causing you this much pain. You almost lost me and our unborn child on what was supposed to be the best day of our life. It was the day that we brought our baby daughter into the world and now that memory is tainted by the sound of my heart monitor flatlining and Layla not making a sound when she was born. I'm sorry." At this point she was practically sobbing. "I'm so so sorry. I wish I could have done something." She whispered.
"Betty, you couldn't have done anything. But whenever I think back to that moment I just can't help but wonder how the hell I didn't see that you were in an abnormal amount of pain and I just kept pushing you and I should have listened to you instead." He mumbled, eyes fixed on her stomach.
"No, Jug. You were just doing what any supportive husband would do. At that moment, I didn't care that I felt myself losing consciousness. The only thing that mattered to me was the fact that I couldn't hear our baby crying." Jughead leaned up and placed a delicate kiss to her lips before tucking her head into his neck.
"Jug...?" She whispered, so quietly she might as well have not said anything.
"Yes baby?" He turned his head to bury his nose in the comforting scent of her coconut shampoo.
"I know that this is a bit of a taboo topic between us but I'm glad that we're having this conversation. But I do need to mention something that I know you're going to hate." She keeps her head hidden as if she's scared. "I've noticed that you're not as connected to Layla as you were when I was pregnant with her." Betty felt Jughead's body tense, so she pulled back and looked into his eyes. "I have no doubt at all that you love our daughter but when I was pregnant you wouldn't even leave my sight without giving my bump a kiss and I don't know... I just feel like now you don't really...have as much of an attachment." She whispered the last part quietly as she saw his face drop. Jughead pulled her chin up to look him in the eye, with an expression of regret and guilt.
"I know. I'm sorry. It breaks my heart but everytime I look at her beautiful little face I can't help but think of those 47 seconds where she didn't make a sound and it hurts so bad, Betts." Tears were freely rolling down his face and Betty couldn't wipe them away quick enough. "I love her, Betty. I love her so much that my heart doubles in size when I think about her but it breaks at the same time. I don't know how to deal with it so...as awful as it sounds, I-I try to avoid thinking about her." He avoided eye contact with her but after a while of Betty not talking, he began to regret telling her.
"Shit...that- that makes me sound like an awful father. Well, I mean- I am but...fuck I shouldn't have told you that." He stuttered.
"It doesn't make you sound like an awful father. You're not an awful father. You're the furthest from that. It makes you sound like a traumatised young dad and I don't blame you, no one can. You went through that night alone and you didn't have anyone there to support you. But you can have support now, Jug." She trailed her fingers along his cheek and down to his lips.
"I know and I'm so grateful that I have you here to help m-" He starts.
"I don't mean me, Jug." She interrupts.
"W-what do you mean then?" He questioned.
"I think you should see a therapist, honey." He sighed and began to retreat from the position that they were in before Betty grabbed his chin to look at her.
"No." She shook her head. "No, Jughead. You can't shy away from this. You need to admit that you need this. I know you don't want it because you want to go on pretending that everything's okay, Jug, but it's not. And you know it's not. If you can't do this for yourself, then do it for your wife and your daughter. Your family. Please. I can't do this alone. And as much as I hate to admit it, it feels like I am. Layla misses her daddy. She may be 2 months old but she knows. She knows, Jug. She just wants a cuddle from her daddy every now and then and I can't give her that. Please." She was sobbing by the time she had finished speaking and it broke Jughead's heart. He kissed her tears and sobbed along with her.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry, baby." He sobbed, soaking her t-shirt. They stayed like that for about 20 minutes before both of them had calmed down, their noses blocked and rocking back and forth in time with each other, almost lulling them to sleep.
"I'll do it." Jughead whispered into the silence of their bedroom. "You know I will. I'll do anything for my girls."
Betty let out a hiccup of joy.
"I know. That's what makes you such an amazing man. You'd do anything for your family." She leaned in and they engaged in a passionate kiss that was full of promises and love. Soon enough, Jughead was placing kisses wherever possible and muttering 'I love yous' all over her smooth skin.
"Thank you, Juggie. Thank you so much." She whispered, lips grazing over his forehead.
"Please don't thank me, Betts. This is necessary. I want to be able to look at my beautiful baby girl without breaking. I just love her so much and I miss her. I miss having that attachment to her because she's my baby. She's my daughter and I promised that I'd do anything to protect her and I'm going to live up to that promise, I swear. I'm not gonna let you down. I love you too much to do that." He finished taking before placing a gentle kiss on her lips.
"I love you t-" Before Betty could finish what she was saying, she was interrupted by a grumbling coming from the baby monitor. Betty placed a kiss on his lips.
"I'll be back in a minute." She whispered, before beginning to climb off of her husband's lap.
"No. L-let me do it." He stated, gently easing Betty off of him and making his way towards the nursery next door, not seeing his wife smiling gently at him.
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Betty watched on the monitor as her husband gently and cautiously lifted Layla out of her crib and pulled her into his bare chest before pulling a blanket around her. Swaying back and forth, she could hear a gentle humming gliding elegantly through the speaker. Before long, Betty saw her Jughead walking out of the room, bouncing the whimpering baby as he went. Betty scrambled back to her position against the headboard, and pulled her shirt down, knowing that those whimpers meant that their daughter was hungry. Before long, Jughead returned, looking lovingly down at his daughter, not even noticing Betty calling his name.
"huh?" He asked, not even looking up.
"I said 'I think she's hungry'" She repeated. Only then did Jughead look up to see Betty sat on the bed, hair disarray and her loose shirt hanging off her collar bone, one of her breasts spilling out, ready to feed Layla.
"Yeah, I thought so." He whispered, passing Layla to her mother, with a hint of hesitancy. Betty held her in her in her arms, bringing her to her breast where she quickly latched on. Jughead sighed, looking at his girls.
"You know a bad father wouldn't have done what you just did." She whispered, eyes still locked on her daughter, one hand fiddling with Layla's tiny foot.
"Well, I know I said that I'm a shitty father, Betts, but I think anyone knows how to carry a baby." He chuckled, reaching across Betty's body to stroke his daughter's head as she suckled gently.
"No," Betty giggled, "I mean, you knew what she wanted. You knew she was hungry because you're tuned into her. You're an incredible father, honey. Please don't ever doubt that again." She heard Jughead sniffle quietly, before she felt him nod against her shoulder. Maybe he could overcome this trauma. As long as he had his girls there on his journey to heal.

{A/N} ~ 1850 words not including this.
Hi guys! I'm so sorry that I have been M.I.A. I've been having a lot of health problems both mentally and physically but I hope this kinda makes up for it. I'm hoping that after my exams are over this week, that I can start writing again because I really don't want to let you down more than I already have. Hope you enjoy✨Lots of love 🥰 - C x