“I’m not Jealous”
She wasn’t jealous. She couldn’t be jealous. Betty Cooper did not do jealous, especially not when it came to vampires she’d only known for a month.
And yet, it bothered her how close Toni and Jughead were. The casual glances, the inside jokes, the hugging. Ugh, if Betty weren’t careful, she’d turn out like her sister, chasing some incubus into the night only to return brokenhearted and bitter.
It didn’t help how easily he’d turned on his charm - natural or supernatural though it may be - it was unnerving to see its effects on a grown woman. It was even more disturbing to watch how quickly the nurse responded to him. She was easily in her early sixties and yet she tittered on, fluttering her eyelashes like a schoolgirl and touching his arm ever so gently.
His joke wasn’t even funny.
“Now remember, dear, no one but the doctors are allowed to see these. I could get in real trouble if anyone found out, the nurse - Rosemary, according to her nameplate - faux whispered as she leaned closer to Jughead to hand him the thick file. They were so close a puff of air would have brought them together in a kiss.
Jughead winked at her - winked? What was he, eighty? - and tapped the side of his nose. “Our little secret, Rosie.”
He handed the file off to Betty and shifted to lean against the counter, effectively blocking her out of his little tete-a-tete.
Well, Betty huffed. If he wanted to be like that.
She sulked past the hard plastic chairs of the records room and wandered further down the hallway into the bowels of the hospital. When she found a quiet spot, Betty opened up the folder. Glancing up every now and then to make sure she was still alone, she riffled through the papers of all the underground who’d been admitted to the hospital in the last three months. Even though it was after two in the morning, something in her gut warned her of imminent doom. Paranoid though she may be, shades and shadows had been growing at the corners of her sight, a portent that never turned out well for anyone.
The papers were heavy with jargon, seemingly routine, but there was nothing about missing time, missing organs, or missing people. It wasn’t unusual for the underground to turn to human medicine. After all, most of all the major medical discoveries were made by witches or the odd beneficent fae. Betty glanced around once more and pulled out a thin disc in the shape of a four leaf clover and muttered the words she’d cobbled together long ago - Gaelic, Germanic, and Hindi - and cracked the charm over her head. It dissolved into dust and she let it fall across her head and shoulders.
One more turn and there at the far end of the hallway was a nurses station. Empty save for one sour looking man at the desk who most definitely did not want to be there.
“Excuse me,” Betty said with a smile. She forced every bit of her exasperation with Jughead into it and tried her most innocent face. “But the copier in Records isn’t working and Rosemary sent me -“
The nurse rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Just one copy?”
Betty nodded. “Yes, please. I’m sorry to trouble you, it’s just -“
He held up a hand, more interested in his phone than in her explanation. She gave him the file and watched as he disappeared into another door. Betty waited, worrying at her already ragged thumbnail.
Jughead had never acted like that with her. And they’d been intimate! Well, as intimate as one could be under the influence of a lust heightening potion (Cheryl had a strange sense of humor, according to Jughead). Even though the potions only enhanced the feelings on already had, Jughead hadn’t brought that night up since it had happened, almost as if he were trying to forget the whole thing.
Perhaps he was trying to forget it. Despite the lore, male vampires normally lacked the necessary blood flow for certain acts. Feeding and abnormally warm temperatures could increase blood flow, as could certain spells, but -
The sound of shoes squeaking their way down the hallway sent a surge of panic through Betty. Swallowing it down, she smiled at the doctor and noted how his eyes lingered on her face.
Then again, perhaps she just wasn’t Jughead’s type. Blonde, smart, and sport wasn’t really what those of the darker parts of the underground usually went for. (Sporty. Such a strange way to describe someone. Blonde and smart were descriptors, but sporty?)
And it wasn’t as if Betty was short on suitors. So why in Gaia’s green earth was she stuck on a stupid vampire who didn’t have a sense of humor and wasn’t all that nice to begin with? He was attractive, but every vampire was. It was just a part of their nature. And he certainly didn’t -
Betty almost jumped out of her skin as a stack of still warm papers slammed on the counter in front of her. The man smirked.
“Your files, ma’m.”
“Thanks,” she said, despite wanting to slip a pepper in the man’s coffee. “Have a good night.”
Walking back through the maze of hallways, Betty slipped into a bathroom. Making sure she was alone, Betty shoved the copy into her purse. With some effort, she slipped the strap over her shoulder. As she walked out she was reminded of her spell crafting classes that required her to carry giant tomes to every class. Somehow she managed to make it back to Jughead and Rosemary without toppling over.
“Sorry it took so long!” Betty chirped. She set the folder onto the desk in front of Rosemary and let out a laugh. “I got lost on the way to the bathroom.”
Rosemary smiled patronizingly and took the folder from her. “It happens to the best of us, dear. I do hope you found out what you needed for your mother’s case. Your good friend Cody has been telling me about it. How tragic that they left a sponge and a watch inside of her,” she said as she patted Jughead’s arm.
He grinned and Betty wondered what part of the joke she was missing.
“Yes I did. You’ve been ever so helpful.”
“Don’t mention it. You two stay out of trouble, and remember…”. Rosemary tapped the side of her nose and winked.
Disgustingly, Jughead mimicked her actions. It was enough to make Betty gag. Rosemary, however, giggled at the attention.
Ready to be done with this, with him, Betty headed towards the elevator. She punched at the button and tapped her foot. Betty knew she was being needlessly irritated with this whole thing - still no polly still no answers stupid vampires and stupider succubi -
With his annoyingly long legs it didn’t take but a few seconds for Jughead to catch up with her. Betty shifted her weight away from him, wincing at the strain on her back. Without a word, he reached out and took the purse from her.
“You’ll throw your back out like that.”
“Oh.” A beat, then she remembered her manners. “Thanks.”
He nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. The arrival bell dinged and they stepped onto the elevator. As they neared the bottom, he said, “Wontons?”
A hint of a smile tickled Betty’s lips and she tried to remind herself of all the reasons why she shouldn’t be charmed by him. Just because he’d remembered that her favorite restaurant was near here even if he himself couldn’t eat human food -
“Sure.”
