Chapter Text
Betty Cooper’s nails tapped loudly on the wooden table, while her other hand gripped her coffee cup so dangerously tight there was small worry it might break. She was the image of perfection; blonde hair high in a ponytail, accompanied with a pastel shirt and a pair of white capris. It had been that way for as long as she could remember, giving the world an image that showed she had her life together, which for the most part was the truth. College had been good to her. Top grades in all her classes, along with being surrounded by a great group of friends, didn’t give her much to complain about.
No, it was her family that tended to set her teeth on edge. Now, she loved them with all her heart. If Betty had tried to say she didn’t, it would have been a flat lie. However, her mother, even a several hours drive away, still managed to crawl her way under Betty’s skin, causing her nails to bite into already-scarred skin of her palms. It was her mother, who was responsible for her current position; seated at her kitchen table, struggling to not open the bottle of wine she had tucked in the back of the fridge because it was hardly even three in afternoon, waiting for reinforcements.
They came swiftly in the form of Veronica Lodge. Her high school best friend came immediately after Betty sent her a heated text, a designer handbag hanging from one manicured hand while the other held a bottle wine Betty was pretty sure cost more than her utility bill. The sight made her pause in her anger, smiling lightly as Veronica bypassed her completely and began taking glasses down.
“V, I already have wine,” she grinned.
“And it is not open, why?” Veronica chirped, sitting across from Betty and popping open the bottle. “I thought this was a Cooper family emergency?”
“It is.” Betty took the glass, pushing aside her coffee while chest flaring up at the mention of the conversation she had just a half hour before. “But it’s also pretty early.”
“Then that gives us plenty of time to finish the bottle,” Veronica argued cheerfully, taking a large sip from her own glass. Betty smiled again. From the outside, she was a complete contrast to the woman before her. Veronica was gorgeous. Her jet black hair and bronzed skin were paired perfectly. She dressed in dark, skin tight dresses and pumps that Betty couldn’t even begin to imagine walking in. In contrast, Betty leaned towards light pinks and blues, often with jeans or skirts. Standing side-by-side, it was wonder their friendship worked so well. “Now, spill.”
It was like someone opened the flood gates. “I am doing just fine!” Betty exclaimed loudly. “Why does she think she can just call and say those things! Am I not an honor student already? I work full-time too! You would think that would be enough for my mother but no-.”
“B, chill,” Veronica interrupted, swinging her dark hair over her shoulder before placing a steady hand on her friend’s hand. “Back up girl. Whole story, please.”
Betty huffed, taking a deep sip. “Mom called me about the stupid family vacation that I have successfully managed to get out of for the past three years. This time, it lines up perfectly with finals being over, so I don’t really have an excuse to not go.”
“And I’m imagining that is not what had your little Cooper temper racing, though?”
“No,” she answered, leaning back in chair and trying to keep her voice low. “Did you know Polly’s been married for over three years now? With two kids? I did, because even if I lost track on the numbers, my mom cares to remind me. Every. Single. Time. She. Calls. It’s a nightmare, V! Like seriously, you would think my own accomplishments would mean something, but instead its constant asking if I’ve met someone, or if when I visit if I’ll be bringing someone with me for them to meet!”
“Oh, no,” Veronica groaned. “And with your vacation-.”
“Yes, she called to ask if she should plan on me coming alone ‘like always’.” Betty made the air quotation marks, nearly sloshing the red wine all over the table. “When I said no, she cared to mention that I’m not getting any younger and maybe there was something I could do differently to make myself more ‘attractable.’” More air quotations.
Veronica’s mouth popped open dramatically. “She did not!”
“She did! Now I have a to spend a whole week of getting to hear it in person. It’s going to be my own personal, Alice Cooper filled hell.”
“Oh, Betty. Surely it won’t be that bad? You’ll be on the beach! You can just tan all day and use the sounds of the waves to block out her nagging.”
“Or, I will just drown myself. That’ll be much less work,” Betty mumbled into her glass, before leaning her head against her hand.
“You just need to lie,” her friend shrugged easily. “Tell mommy dearest you have a hunky new boyfriend that unfortunately is just too busy with some parent-approved career to make the Cooper summer vacation beach trip.”
“She’ll know I’m lying,” Betty sighed. “And then, I’ll just look even more pathetic and the comments will get worse. It’s better if I just suck it up and stick it out.”
“Can’t you just ask someone to go with you? Sling an arm over your shoulder occasionally, kiss you when she’s looking? Look adorably in love for a week and then have some horrible break up after the trip is over? That could be your lie!”
“Please,” Betty snorted, before downing her glass. She swiftly poured another. “I’d have to be insanely desperate to ask someone that.”
“Well, aren’t you?” Veronica ignored Betty’s glare. “C’mon, B you have a bunch of guy friends. Any of them would love a free, beachside vacation.”
“A bunch of guy friends?” she quoted, laughing slightly. “Let’s see, first there’s Kevin, who’s so far from the heterosexual playing field that mom would spy his sexual preference a mile away and she already knows you and Archie have been dating for years. My last option is-.”
The door few open. Male voices filled the room as Veronica’s boyfriend marched through, school bag hanging from his shoulder and a laugh on his face as he spoke with the tall figure behind him. She already knew who it was. Jughead Jones. Betty stomach dropped at the sudden realization.
Veronica didn’t miss it either. A smile, horribly wide and mischievous erupted across her cheeks, looking between him and Betty. Betty glared straight at her, doing her best to look intimidating. Veronica, thankfully, only laughed and Betty shot her a last warning glance, before smiling as both boys looked their way.
Betty had known Archie Andrews almost as long as Veronica. In fact, she was the one who introduced them, leading to the year-long, PDA filled relationship the pair shared. Their story was simple; Veronica was her best friend from high school and although both girls came from completely opposite backgrounds, remained so as they were shipped off to college. Archie she met in one of freshman classes. He was easy to get along to, and kind above all else. It wasn’t long before he was tagging behind them both.
Then enter Jughead Jones.
Betty personally didn’t know too much about him, but if she and Veronica and were a big contrast, that was nothing between the star athlete and the former gang member. When Archie first brought him over, Betty had been minorly intimidated. Jughead was fairly tall, usually wearing something dark, and constantly had a beanie over top his messy black hair. Tattoos littered one arm almost as much as faint scars covered the other. Betty had shrunk into the walls, suddenly feeling out of place in her pastel sweater and jean skirt.
After a few minutes of hearing him speak, she realized her fears had been misplaced. Sure, he was sarcastic and overall annoying, but there was no intimidation or hardness in the way he spoke to either of them. When the overall surprise had worn off, Betty even found him pretty cute, but she would have never told a soul that.
That was what led the four of them there; all four friends, who spent the majority of their free time sprawled across one of their living rooms.
Wishing above anything else she hadn’t said what had stupidly fallen from her mouth, she smiled up at the boys. “Hey, guys. What’s up?”
“Counting down the days until break.” Archie went past her, kissing Veronica sweetly on the cheek before plopping on the couch. Jughead gave her a polite smile before following. “You look a little tense Betty. Already stressed about finals?”
“Something like that,” she sighed, draining her glass for a second time. “Cooper family drama.”
The conversation moved onto her dysfunctional family and talks of what they would all be doing once finals were over. Jughead didn’t say much. He never did. When talk of putting on a movie for the four of them to watch, Betty thought she might be in the clear. However, Veronica shot her a wide look, teeth dancing on the edge of her lip and Betty knew she was in trouble.
“Betty, you want to help me grab some more wine?” Veronica asked innocently, motioning for her to follow into the kitchen. Betty could see the evil glint in her eye and reluctantly followed to avoid a scene. When they were in the safety of the dimly lit room, she was practically ambushed by the brunette. “Oh my God, Betty Cooper! Ask Jughead!”
“Are you crazy?” she hissed back, praying they wouldn’t hear. “He barely knows me!”
“C’mon, he’s perfect,” Veronica argued quietly. “You’re already friends. Both single. Both incredibly attractive. It’s a fake relationship match made in heaven. I know you want some company on that trip. Don’t even try denying it.” She couldn’t. The idea of someone standing beside her, keeping her mom’s comments quiet, was too enticing. Besides, seeing her mom’s reaction to his tattoos just might be worth it. “I knew it. Now, ask him or I will.”
“I’m going to think about it,” Betty decided, ripping the wine bottle off the counter. “And drink most of this while I do it.”
Betty kept to her word. While the evening carried on and the movie played out before them, Betty was in a whole different world. She kept playing every possible scenario in her head and contemplating Veronica’s words. She had been absolutely right, but Betty kept imagining the worst; asking Jughead only to see his face twist in disgust, or to even have him make fun of her. After all, it was rather pathetic. It would be so satisfying to shock everyone though, walking up to the beach house clinging to his arm. He was rather attractive. Betty could think of a lot of worse people to spend her vacation with.
“You’re really finishing off that bottle, Cooper.” The whispered, sarcastic comment came from beside her. Jughead was smirking at her, amused at the near-empty wine bottle. Eyeing her movie companion carefully, Betty took another long swig from her glass and noticed her forehead was getting heavy. “Family drama that bad?”
“Nope,” she answered, slurring the last bit. She was definitely tipsy. “Veronica is making me ask you something, but it’s super embarrassing so I wanted to drink a lot before I did it.”
His brows pulled together, but she didn’t notice. Veronica had busted out in laughter at her statement while Archie simply looked over, confused. “What does she want you to ask me?”
The movie was now forgotten. All participants in the room were looking at Betty in anticipation. “I can’t. It’s embarrassing.”
“You mentioned that,” he answered, dryly. “C’mon, Betty. What is it?”
“No, you’ll laugh at me.”
“I promise I won’t laugh.”
“You will.”
“Betty is going on a vacation, but her mom is crazy and sometimes hella mean so she needs a fake boyfriend to go with her!” Veronica screamed the explanation, hands clapping together excitedly and her teeth digging into her bottom lip. Archie looked between them, brows pulled together in confusion, Betty didn’t pay him much attention.
“Veronica!” The alcohol had raised her voice an octave. She whipped her head to look at Jughead’s, her eyes wide in embarrassment. He, at least, didn’t seem completely mortified. In fact, Betty thought he looked like he was trying to not to laugh. Red flooded her cheeks. “I didn’t-she wasn’t supposed to-.”
“C’mon, Archiekins!” Veronica jumped from the couch, dragging her boyfriend up with her. Her skirt twirled as she danced backwards to the bedrooms, fingers waggling at them both. “Betty has to ask Jughead something.”
Betty just stared, eyes still wide in horror before throwing herself down sideways onto the couch, gripping her hair in frustration. Jughead was still quiet, and she figured she had better explain, but the wine was making it hard to put the explanation together. Dragging her hands down her face, she sighed loudly. “I’m so sorry. Just ignore her. I didn’t want her to ask you.”
“I’m not even sure if I know what she asked,” he admitted. When she peaked through her fingers, his mouth was quirked. “She kind of screamed it at me.”
“My family, specifically my mother, is just a nightmare and Veronica was trying to help.” Betty pulled herself up on her elbows to look at him, hoping the heat in her face would down. Maybe it was because she had just made herself look like an idiot in from of him or the wonderful aspects of the wine, but she found Jughead looking particularly attractive that night. Black strands of hair stuck out from underneath his beanie, going well with the deep red flannel he wore. Betty suddenly found herself wanting Veronica’s suggestion to work, so she continued to rattle on. “I have to spend a week with them on vacation and she’s just been nasty about me always being alone and making snide comments on how I need to be more attractive to get a man and we just thought it would be really nice if someone could go with me and just pretend to be dating me and then she’d have to shut up and I could actually have fun but the whole thing is just stupid-.”
“I’ll go.” Jughead interrupted her monologue, casing her mouth to freeze in slight surprise. When she didn’t say anything, he shrugged before continuing very nonchalantly. “That’s all you want? Someone to pretend to be your boyfriend for a week?”
“Yes,” she answered, fully sitting up in excitement. “Oh my gosh, will you do it?”
“Sure,” he answered. “Why not?”
***
There were about three things Jughead was absolutely sure of in life. One, life wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t. Plain and simple. He had a lifetime of examples to prove his point. Secondly, was that Archie Andrews truly was a brother to him. That was no lie. He’d been there for him every since they were in and diapers, never steering him wrong and helping to hold him up in his worst of time. Jughead trusted him. This was why, when Archie begged Jughead to tag along all those years ago to hangout with his new girlfriend, himself, and her friend, he had agreed. Archie’s intent had been clear, even if not spoken out loud; hang out with the blonde so Archie could score points with the brunette. No one would have guessed it would have ended with the four of them, three years later and still spending most of their time together. Archie and the rich girl, Veronica, were annoyingly in love and Jughead had a couple new people to consider friends. There had just been one problem; a fact, that he knew would rang true until the end of his days.
The third thing Jughead knew to be true: Betty Cooper was so out of his league it wasn’t even funny.
They didn’t even play the same sport, that’s how far apart they were. It was as though she was the team captain, winning a national championship, while he was the janitor who got the honor of mopping up the locker room.
She never acted like she was out of his league, though. That was the thing. While he didn’t have any major problems with Veronica, one couldn’t miss the fact she came from a higher class than the rest of them. Betty was never like that though. She quiet, humble; kind of a dork at times too. Maybe that was why he had found himself nervous around her for the past three years. Betty was different; a kind of different he’d been trying to convince himself to buck up the courage and talk to.
In some sick, twisted way, he found his wish had come true. He was parked in front of the girls’ apartment complex, a solid week after Betty and Veronica drunkenly confessed their plan to him. Betty had blushed and stammered most of the night, but he didn’t mind. It was almost cute. The days following his agreement to play along brought many texts and phone calls from his favorite blonde. She gave him a list of what to pack and when they needed to leave Friday afternoon. Besides that, he hadn’t heard from her much.
She appeared through the double doors quickly, lugging behind a large, flowery suitcase that seemed almost too Betty. Her blonde hair was pulled back, a pair of cotton shorts and a sweatshirt in place for their miniature road trip. As she got closer, he hurried from the cab of the truck.
“Hey, you,” she greeted, smile beaming as he grabbed her suitcase for her. “All set for a real Cooper family vacation?”
“You know it,” he teased, tossing her bag in the back. She hopped in the front and he followed suit, eager to beat the Manhattan rush hour. “I’m always game for a free vacation.”
“No no no.” Betty stuck her finger close to his face, eyes narrowed but half her mouth tilted up. “This vacation is earned, Jones. You’ve got to really convince my family I’m not the world’s most pathetic human being. They don’t buy the fact we’re dating, its game over.”
“I think I can handle that,” he snorted, giving her a sideways glance. “To be honest though, this is pretty fucking ridiculous. I mean, you’re-what-like twenty-one? Pretty sure it shouldn’t be a big deal that you’re single.”
Betty sighed, sticking her feet up on the dash. “Yeah, well welcome to a family where the mom and oldest sister got married and had children just months after high school. Compared to them, I’m a regular old maid. Also,” her head whipped back to him, smile teasing as she laid back against the seat. “Pretty sure you shouldn’t have to guess on how old I am if we’re dating.”
Jughead grinned. “Fair enough. Was I right about it being twenty-one?”
“Yep. And you’re twenty-four, capable of eating multiple hamburgers in one sitting. I know this because I saw you do it at Veronica’s last fourth of July. Um, you’re going to school to be a writer, specifically scary stuff.”
“Scary stuff?”
“Yeah, like mysteries and crime novels. Don’t interrupt, I’m trying to remember everything I know about you.”
“Yes ma’m,” he gave her a mock salute, that she rolled her eyes to. “Carry on.”
“Let’s see, you like to read. Your favorite movie is Sherlock Holmes,” her voice trailed off, lip biting into her bottom lip and her brows furrowed. “Wow. I thinks that’s all I know about you. What about me?
Jughead gazed at the road in front of them, trying to pry anything sort of personal information he’s discovered about her in the past three years. There wasn’t much. “Uh, you and Veronica met in high school. Riverdale, right? You always order a vanilla milkshake at the diner. You’re going to school for journalism.” He could have said things like ‘you’re unbelievably kind’ or ‘sometimes your smile is the brightest thing in the room’ but Jughead thought that sounded pretty creepy. So, he kept it simple. “You really hate scary movies and Christmas is your favorite holiday. I think that covers it, Cooper.”
“We’re a pretty crappy couple,” she laughed softly. “How long have we’ve been together, anyway?”
“Nine months,” he answered, smoothly. “We sat at the same desk in the library last semester.”
“Right, I was just minding my own business and then you gave me some really lame pickup line-.”
“That you totally found charming,” he argued. “Even though you kept pretending I was annoying, you fell for it right off the bat.”
“Whatever.” Betty crossed her arms, attempting to look annoyed. A strand of blond hair had fallen on her forehead, highlighting the green in her eyes. Jughead turned his attention back to the road. “That doesn’t sound like me.”
“I think I would know, babe. We have been together for almost a year.”
There was a swift punch to his shoulder. Jughead laughed, earning a small giggle from the blonde next to him. The job didn’t seem to so bad. Spend a week proclaiming his love for Betty seemed easy enough, but Jughead had no idea what he had just gotten himself into.