Work Text:
“I love you Jug,” Betty whispered as the two lay next to each other under the bedsheets patterned with pale blue butterflies. Jughead let out a large exhale as he looked up at the ceiling, his face stroked by Betty’s fingers as he turned to look at her and smiled, she smiled back with her tight lipped grin. Something was wrong.
“What is it Betty?” Jughead yawned, still half asleep.
“I just don’t love you anymore.” Betty replied, her face falling into the bed as if she was being swallowed up by it.
Jughead sat up straight in bed, his blood pumping through his body and sweat dripping down his chest as he looked to the side of the bed to see Jessica sprawled across the other side of bed, her body stretched out as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Looking at the alarm clock that read 8:45, Jughead sighed as he swung his legs out of bed onto the floor where bottles, papers and dirty clothes were being stored. He dragged himself into the bathroom to treat himself to a shower, a place that he hadn’t been too familiar with until recently. He stared at the wall, breathing heavily as the shoots of water pounded his head and back, thinking about tonight. His work that he had put so much effort and time into over all these years was going to be released into this world. He got out of the shower and made some coffee for Jessica and himself, treating her to a coffee in bed while he read some poetry and looked out of the window onto the city of New York.
“You only get one night like this,” Samm chuckled as he sunk his teeth into the hot dog. Jughead didn’t acknowledge the statement as he looked up to the sky after what felt like a drop of rain fell on his hand, he started asking his agent the things that he really needed to know: who would be at the release party? who was likely to write a bad review? is there any reason for publicity needed at all?
“Look,” Samm sighed, “I know you don’t like the...” he paused as he screwed his face up as if trying to find the right word, “social aspect of it all.”
Jughead looked at him through his newly prescribed glasses with his usual judgemental look.
“God knows why though,” Samm continued while wiping his crumbs off his suit.
“Look Jones, the publishers want this night to go smoothly, they took a gamble with this book and you need it to do well, so plaster on a smile, drink a couple of glasses of wine and if you’re feeling like striking up a conversation well, no one will be complaining.”
Jughead, who was now looking down towards the ground, nodding slowly as if processing what he had just heard and with that Samm put up an umbrella and walked away down the pigeon filled grey paths of the park. What had started as a spit of rain had turned into a continuous downpour and Jughead sighed as he got up and started walking towards the apartment.
“I’m so sorry Jughead,” Jellybean cried down the phone as Jughead was walking up the stairs, dripping hair and blazer, to his flat. “It’s okay Jellybean but I did say,” Jughead replied in a strained voice as he started to progress up the mountain of stairs. “Dad really wanted to go as well, I didn’t think he would keep us here because of me getting into trouble and I was so looking forward to it as well,” Jellybean sobbed, running the words out a mile in a minute as she tended to do when trying to explain herself. “Look,” Jughead interrupted before she could get another word in edgeways, “there will be other book parties and publicity events in the future don’t worry okay.” After a couple of minutes of Jughead going up the stairs while also simultaneously trying to calm his sister down he hung up the phone and opened the door to his dingy apartment - the windows barely brining in the natural light that was needed to light up the mess that was brewing.
“Hi Jones,” Jessica swooned, kissing him as he walked into the small kitchenette. “Dad and Jellybean can’t come tonight,” he sighed getting out last nights leftover pasta from the fridge. “That’s a shame, I really wanted to meet them,” Jessica replied, getting out a fork for him to eat the cold macaroni out of the tin. “It’s okay the sooner this event is over though, the better,” Jughead smiled as he gave a smile to Jessica, their eyes now hooked on each other as they talked about Jessica’s current chapter of the book she was writing.
“Good evening Mr Jones,” the chauffeur greeted with a slight smile on his face as he opened the car door for Jughead and Jessica, “Thank you,” Jessica replied with a smile as they shuffled in and found a bottle of champagne with a note.
‘Enjoy yourself!’ it read in what Jughead could make out to be Samm’s slightly messy handwriting.
“Ooh,” Jessica gasped excitedly, “Champagne!”
Jughead paused for a moment, he loved Jessica and he could see this was really exciting for her so he decided now was the time to put a smile on his face like Samm told him to as he popped the bottle of champagne and poured its contents out for his girlfriend and himself as they both clinked their glasses and laughed while the limo speeded through the busy streets of New York.
The couple were led out of the limo by the chauffeur who was slightly more happier now, pointing them towards the grand door leading to the big library where the reception was being held.
“After you,” Jughead opened the door for Jessica as she walked in and he followed, immediately hearing the bustle of publishers, reporters and other people from the literary industry that were invited. There were laughs of old men with beards as they poured red wine down their throats and numerous caterers walking round in black and white dress, handing round canapés that were accompanying the steady stream of alcohol. “Jones!” Samm greeted loudly, his smile big and and eyes wide as if he had just won a prize. “Arthur, this is Forsythe Pendleton Jones the Third, the author of the novel.”
“A pleasure to meet you Mr Jones,” Arthur smiled as he shook Jughead’s hand and a twinkle in his eye was seen through his old looking spectacles. Within minutes Jughead was whisked from author to agent to journalist, his conversation revolving around whatever book he could think of while being handed a glass of champagne or wine. After what felt like hours, Jughead finally was able to break away from the chain of conversations keeping him hostage as he looked around for Jessica. “Jug,” he turned around immediately, he knew that voice, he would know that voice from anywhere.
“Betty?” Jughead spat out, shocked at the women he was seeing before him, a women he hadn’t seen since high school, “wha…what are you doing here?”
“Well, Jellybean called me a few days ago saying that you had a book event and that I should come along, where are they?” Betty said, looking around.
“They couldn’t come,” Jughead replied, almost in an offbeat manner.
“Oh,” Betty said uncomfortably, shuffling her shoes as she looked down at them for a second before looking up, “you look great Jug, I’m really proud of you.” Jughead looked down at his black suit matched with his white shirt and bow tie and back up at Betty in her green dress and her face that looked almost wistful as she gulped down the champagne that had just been given to her.
“Jones, who’s this?” Jessica came out of nowhere suddenly as she kissed him on the lips and looked at the figure in front of them.
“Uhm, Jess, this is Betty she is a childhood friend.”
“It’s lovely to meet you Betty!” Jessica exclaimed as the two women hugged each other awkwardly.
“It’s lovely to meet you too Jess,” Betty replied with a slight smile on her lips and excused herself as she walked towards the bathroom.
“Childhood friend Jones? You’ve never talked about any of them,” Jessica joked as she pulled him in towards her.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Samm came up towards the back of Jughead’s ear, “but they want a speech.”
“Right, of course.” Jughead pulled away from Jessica as he walked to the centre of the great library where a slightly raised stand held a quartet of string musicians now coming to the end of their piece. Jughead was handed a microphone from one of the library workers as he got out the crumpled piece of paper that he had typed on just hours before.
“Good evening,” Jughead started, his voice coming out slightly squeaky as the room started to settle down and look his way. “I’ll keep this quite short I promise,” he joked with a wry smile and continued, “tonight is, as many of you know, the opening night of my novel,” he paused while opening up the piece of paper so that he could make out what he had written. “This novel has been years in the making, taking experiences from myself and those around me to write a novel that I hope that my family and friends are proud of. I grew up in a small town called Riverdale and, well, things were you could say…hectic.” A few giggles lifted from the crowd, who obviously would never understand, but Jughead kept going. “I worked through this novel throughout my teenage years and throughout college as well and I hope that you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I want to thank my agent Samm, Scribners for publishing my first novel and for my family and friends including my girlfriend Jessica. Thank you all for coming.” An eruption of clapping and cheers came from the crowd of unfamiliar faces as Jughead handed back the microphone and stepped down from the stand away from his empty speech.
“That was great Jones,” Jessica kissed him as he broke away, “I need to take a minute,” he said with an exasperated tone. “Okay,” Jessica nodded as she went to go and talk to another young and dashing reporter. Jughead walked as quickly as he could outside to take a break of fresh air, he pushed open the heavy wooden doors and sat on one of the steps, taking out a cigarette and lighting the end, exhaling a cloud of nicotine to try and destress. “Great speech Jug,” a sarcastic voice echoed behind him. Jughead turned to see Betty holding onto her clutch bag and facing directly towards him.
“Betty, it’s been a while,” Jughead exhaled
“It has,” Betty smiled, “I missed you.”
“I did too,” Jughead replied with a smile.
Betty took a few steps towards him as Jughead stubbed out his cigarette underneath his foot on the ground. “You know I don’t have anything to say to you Jug,” Betty whispered as they were now a few inches apart from each other. They both looked at each other, those seconds feeling so familiar and old. Betty leaned in to kiss him and Jughead didn’t know what to do but he just kept on doing it, his instincts telling him not to pull away. Betty pulled away suddenly, “I am so sorry!” she gasped and staggered away, knowing that what had just happened had been so wrong. Jughead suddenly felt a surge of rage, and stood a bit straighter than his usual slight slump.
“Well that’s a turn of events, I didn’t realise that I so important!” Jughead spitted in a heated mix of words fuelled with passion and fury.
Betty started to turn round and walk away quickly, her tears running down her face and her breathing becoming heavy with hurt. Jughead started to open the door and walked through, barely hearing the words that Betty screamed before she carried on down the street: “YOU WERE ALWAYS IMPORTANT.” Those words may of been faint and mixed with the loud voices that were booming within the library, but he still heard them.
The end of the event was almost impossible for Jughead as the steady stream of the gradually louder gatherers all wanted to talk to the man of the night. Forsythe Pendleton Jones III, the new and upcoming author that had been teased by Scribners as being one of the best novelists to come across their desk. After the clock struck midnight, Samm came up to the exhausted Jughead who was ready to fall back into an armchair. “You did well tonight Jones, now get home with your missus, tomorrow your book will be across the country, the reviews out. It’s not over.”
Jughead looked around to see Jessica sitting on a random indoor bench, staring into space as if she was high.
“Jess, are you okay?” Jughead asked, Jessica looked up at him and smiled, “Yes, Jones I am fantastic.” A slightly lopsided grin and eyes wider than he had ever seen them, sober that was.
Jughead sighed, “Jess it’s time to go.” He pulled on her arm to help her up and grunted as he dragged her towards the door. Jughead flagged down a bright yellow taxi and bundled her in, breathing a sigh of relief as he watched his girlfriend laugh and garble out a steady stream of words that didn’t make sense.
Jughead opened his eyes to see Betty looking at him from the chair next to the bed. “Sweet dreams Jug?” Betty was wearing her FBI t-shirt and leggings, just like she used to back in high school.
“Betty what are you doing here?” Jughead asked his eyes blinking every two seconds.
“I said you were important Jughead.”
“But that doesn’t mean you can break into my apartment Betty.”
Jughead looked to see Jessica by his side, stretched out as always and in a deep sleep.
“Betty get out of here, leave.”“But you love me Jughead.”“No I don’t.”
“Then why did you kiss me?”“What, you know I didn’t, you kissed me, remember!”
“Are you sure about that?”Her grin was now coming closer to him as she walked towards the bed and she touched his cheek.
“You will always be important to me and I’ll always be important to you, it’s just the way it is Jug.”
She was now looming over him, casting a shadow over the two bodies on the bed. Betty then started to scream, her sound bursting the glass and Jughead’s eardrums.
Jughead sat up in bed, it had just been a nightmare, or was it a hidden message? He hadn’t kissed her… had he? He continued to let all these thoughts swirl in his head until he heard his phone ring, he picked it up to see Samm as the caller ID. ‘Shit’ he thought as he picked it up, “what did they say?” Jughead immediately asked as he picked up the call. “You’re a star Jughead!” Samm shouted down the line, New York Times have called you one of the best authors of the century, all of the reviews are raving about you Jones!”
“Oh my gosh,” Jughead stuttered and smiled as Jessica entered the room, recovering from what had seemed to be a night full of alcohol and drugs, “that’s amazing.”
“Well you deserve it Jones, have a good day okay treat yourself and your girl and we’ll talk tomorrow.”The call ended and Jughead sat in his bed, looking around the apartment and smiling as hard as he could, his girlfriend rushed in to hug and kiss him. “Well done babe oh my gosh!” cried Jessica as she pulled away and looked into his eyes, “I love you Jones,” she said, “so do I,” Jughead replied, “now, I’m taking you out, let me get changed and we’ll go in a minute.”
“Oooh you’re treating me aren’t you?” Jessica teased as she kissed him on the forehead and walked out the room.
What Jughead didn’t see were the tears forming in her eyes as she walked into the kitchenette, she had gone to go and check up on him last night and saw him go in to kiss Betty. ‘Childhood friend more like childhood lover’ she thought as she looked at herself in the mirror and vowed to give him another chance.
As Jughead buttoned up his shirt and fixed his hair in the tiny mirror in his bathroom, he knew that he couldn’t tell Jessica what had happened, Betty had made a mistake and he knew that it wasn’t going to happen again because he wasn’t going to see Betty again. He looked at himself as he tried to hide the guilt in his eyes and forced a smile, everything was great, everything was more than great, his debut novel was successful. But however hard he tried he couldn’t get rid of the words ‘you were always important’ ringing in his ears as he went to go and take his girlfriend to get breakfast.
Betty sipped her watery coffee as she thought about last night’s events - why had Jughead kissed her? She couldn’t figure it out - it was like he was entranced when he kissed her. She looked at her watch, she was due to get the plane in half an hour to Virginia. She walked to the till to pay for her breakfast and walked out the diner, as she turned the corner she saw Jughead and Jess go into an Italian restaurant, both smiling and hands clasped. She sighed, Jughead had made a mistake, that was evident, and she knew that although she missed him, they weren’t meant to be. She walked down the street to take a taxi to the airport. This trip had been a mistake.
That night, Betty was in a bar in Quantico, drinking as much as she could. “How was your trip?” Betty turned to see her boss Glen next to her, “not the best…” Betty answered, trailing off as she looked up from her glass to see an equally as tipsy Glen. “Well…do you want to get out of here?” he asked with a smile that she for some reason found suddenly attractive. The two walked back to Glen’s flat and they started to see each other as more than colleagues. That night, Betty didn’t feel guilty at all as she tried to forget about Jughead and everything that had happened. This was her moving on.