𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗹𝗲, something that she was surprised lawrence agreed to, but since he could work from their home and she had managed to somehow convince him that it was his idea over hers, they were back in a place where she felt safe. or at least, safer. she was no longer isolated and alone like she had been in miami. betty was home, back in riverdale, with archie and veronica looking out for her, her mom even seemed worried. but there was someone else, someone she hadn't stopped thinking about the moment she left riverdale and betty couldn't help but wonder what jughead jones had been up to all this time. what must he think of? he never came to say goodbye even though she had practically 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗱 him to, something she had refused to do for so long because she always wondered how 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸 he must see her at times, how she would never be strong enough to really be someone he could be. maybe that was why he hadn't come. despite everything he had said to her in those precious moments, jughead saw 𝗻𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 with her and he wasn't willing to fight for her at all. that didn't mean she had stopped thinking about him.
𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱, he was embedded in her very soul and no matter what she did to try and forget him, she just couldn't. jughead jones was the 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 of her life and it broke her heart that he never came, that he ran from what they had and she had no choice but to move on with her life. she tried to be happy. she tried to find a way to live a life that felt fulfilling. but things got 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 in a way that she had never expected, she fell in love again, it wasn't really like what she had with jughead, but it had been fun, exciting and full of hope . . . at least when it first started. now it was dark and controlling, full of pain and she felt like she had no escape. but at least being home in riverdale, she felt like she maybe had a 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 to get out, with people around her who cared and might see that lawrence was not the person that he was 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 to be to everyone else. she knew veronica didn't trust him, archie was starting to question him, her mom was suspicious but nothing major. no one could see the truth. betty would figure it out, she would find a way out, but ever since coming back to riverdale, she couldn't deny how much she had been thinking about jughead. or from what she had been told was still the 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 and he had more power than ever, something she was sure that never really made him happy. she really didn't know what to expect when she ran into toni topaz at pop's, asking her to ask jughead to meet her at 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁, knowing he would know exactly where. even after all these years.
𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽, especially since he never did all those years ago before she had been sent out of riverdale. she paced nervously back and forth, unable to sit still in the secluded spot that they had used to find comfort in. she had never forgotten how 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 it was here. she finds herself twisting her wedding ring on her left finger, wishing more than anything that she could toss it into the river. but instead she waited and hoped that he would show. she couldn't deny the way her heart skipped a beat when she saw him again. he was so handsome, he always had been but as he had gotten older, he was more refined and she couldn't stop looking at him. he was truly so beautiful to her and it broke her heart how much she had missed. neither of them really said anything for a while, they just seemed to look at each other, until she finally spoke, " i miss you, " she admits softly, surprising herself that was the first thing she said to him, " but i can't stay, " betty knew she had already been gone too long, her excuse to lawrence would only buy her so much time and it wouldn't be long before he was blowing up her phone, 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 to know where she is and when she will be home.
𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲, it broke her heart, he was just going to run again and leave her alone. green eyes close for a moment and she shakes her head, knowing that there was very little she could say to make him stay. but then he turned back and started saying more than she ever expected him to say, confessions of love, hope and missing her that 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 her heart into a thousand pieces. betty had dreamt about hearing him say things like this, longed for it in a way that she had never expected and she thought was 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 to ever hear because why would he feel all of this and yet he never showed up? jughead jones broke her heart that night, in a way that she never expected him to. she thought he would show up, she waited there all night, with nothing but a backpack full of clothes and essentials, hoping that he would come and they could 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 together. then he never showed, thinking it was a goodbye and she had to go back home to be sent away. which her mom still insists was a good idea, but this wasn't about that.
𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, standing directly in front of her, emerald eyes meeting his sapphire ones and she already knew a tear was escaping slowly down her cheek. eyes close briefly for a moment when he cups her face, his touch completely intoxicating to her and she felt like she had missed him more than ever, his touch making her feel more 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 than she had in years. she was his home, he was her heart and she had been empty for so long. her hands come up to grip his serpent jacket, the familiar leather in her grasp as she looks up at him, " why didn't you come that night then? when i asked you to meet me here? " betty couldn't help but ask, her eyes wide as she looked up at him, feeling a little broken but determined to finally get the answers that she never thought she would, " i wasn't meeting you to say goodbye. i wanted you to run away with me . . . but you never came, " betty admits, the heartbreak obvious in her voice and she wanted nothing more than to just lean in against him and let him hold her.
𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, seeing her wedding ring almost as if it burned against her skin and she wished more than ever that she could throw it away, get away from lawrence and just live her life the way she wanted to. seeing jughead again, feeling his skin against hers, made it even feel 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 and she had never expected that to be the case. looking back up at him, betty didn't know what to do and she couldn't figure out what was the best thing for her to do. she wanted to say 𝘪 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 back, but she refused to accidentally give him hope where there may not be any. she had come to riverdale in hopes of escaping lawrence, but she didn't know how to do it. but she also couldn't 𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘆 that she was still hopelessly and forever in love with jughead jones, the serpent king of riverdale, " i missed you every single day, i wrote letters that i never sent because i assumed you'd just burn them, i've still got them all . . . i never stopped loving you, jughead, i don't think i ever will, " she admits, her voice so soft like she was scared that they were going to be overheard. that was the effect lawrence had on, made her so scared to say what she wanted to say out loud. she knew that if jughead knew what was going on in her house with lawrence, he wouldn't stop till she was safe again. but she couldn't even bring herself to tell him what was happening, all she wanted right now was to just forget everything and everyone else, just let it be the two of them and no one else. betty moves, wrapping her arms around him under his jacket let she used to, leaning her head against his chest, hearing the steady beating of his heart and she sighed softly, " take me home, please, take me away from here, "