"I don't know what I was thinking." Water sloshed over the side of the tub and splattered the floor as Betty shifted around.

"With the wig? Or the whole To Catch a Predator themed evening you and Veronica had at Ethel's?" Jughead grinned from his post on the counter, trying not to fall into the sink as he swung his legs. "I mean, when did people stop having 80's parties? Being an asocial reprobate has really left me out of the loop."

Betty moaned, turning in the tub so she could rest her face against the edge while she looked at Jughead. "Where to begin?" Her tone was miserable, but she gave him a smile.

"I hope that's a rhetorical question, because you've kinda stumped me with how you went zero to handcuffs on Sleazy McJockStrap."

Betty reached over the side of the tub and grabbed a towel from the rolled stack on the floor. She whipped it at Jughead, who put up his hands defensively to cover his laughing face.

She repositioned herself with the back of her neck resting on the tub's edge so she could stare up at the ceiling. It was just the right institutional tone of beige to make one wonder whether they had meant to paint the locker room this colour or if it had once been nice and had only faded to its current porridge-y hue over time.

Betty sunk a little lower in the bath, her soaked t-shirt floating around her submerged body, watching fine, oily black swirls drift away from her. She ran a hand up the back of her neck then held it before her, examining the dye on her palm. Betty moaned again. "Juggy, what if it never comes off?"

Jughead hopped off the counter and kneeled down next to the tub, resting his forearms on its edge and stacking his fists to make a platform for his chin. "Then I'd say you'll have been taught a good lesson about wearing a drama club prop in a room full of steam."

Betty turned her head and frowned at him, then reached up and pulled her hair out of the tight coil she'd wound it into to fit it under the wig. More black seeped across the surface of the water as her hair made contact with it.

"I swear, I went insane! I was like Kathy Bates in Misery." Betty's hands came splashing out of the water as she gesticulated anxiously. "Next time I have to wear a disguise, I'm just going to buy a pair of reading glasses and knock the lens out of them!"

Jughead's mouth turned up in a small smile. "You should get those glasses with the fake nose and moustache attached. They're already lens-less."

Betty sighed and closed her eyes. Jughead lifted his head to free his hands, starting to reach out for her, stopping, then letting his palm smooth gently over the side of her soft blonde (and, in places, black) head. He could feel the dampness soaking up into her hair from the ends levitating ethereally below the surface.

To his delight, Betty leaned into his touch. Jughead felt his heart thud.

Betty opened her eyes and gave him a weak smile. "I'm a fool."

"Betty Cooper, a fool? No way." Jughead shook his head adamantly. "Your heart was in the right place, Betts." He instinctively looked down in the direction of said organ and realized he was staring at her pale top molded to the shape of her torso. Molded to every bit of her torso. He thought the underlying layer looked to have the texture of lace. Jughead felt his face reddening and slowly looked away, trying to appear casual.

Betty had her head turned towards what little there was to be seen of the night sky through the room's high window. Jughead trilled his fingers on the surface of the water to pull her attention back.

"I know what I'll be taking away from this evening." He tried to sound compelling, egging her on.

Betty turned her face to his. "And what's that, Juggy?"

Jughead dropped his gaze, watching his fingers skim instead of meeting Betty's bright blue eyes.

He cleared his throat and bounced a little on the now tingling balls of his feet. "The fact that when you thought 'What can I add to make myself look really sexy?' the answer was black hair."

Betty blushed, not knowing what to say.

You fucking idiot, Jughead thought. There was no easy way to extricate himself from this situation.

He heard the light splash of displaced water waving against the sides of the tub and suddenly felt Betty's hand on his head. As Jughead looked up at her, Betty pushed his hat off, smiling at him. She ran her fingers through his hair, making deep furrows. A weaker man than he might have come in his shorts from the combination of the pleasurable feeling of her fingers and the tender way she was looking at him. Unfortunately, Jughead couldn't tell if there was anything more than friendship behind her smile.

Betty lowered her hand to his shoulder, but Jughead stood, letting it fall. His hands went to his belt, which he flicked open before unfastening his jeans and letting them drop. He kicked them into a pile on the tile floor.

Betty stiffened. "Juggy, what are you doing?"

Jughead now had a hand on either side of the tub at the opposite end from Betty. He lifted one foot from the ground and stepped in carefully. "What? You're in your underwear. I don't appreciate the double standard." He brought his other leg over the side and sat down across from her. Displaced water rose and trickled onto the floor. Betty bent her knees, drawing her legs towards her, partly to make room for him, and partly as a knee-jerk reaction in defense of her modesty.

"Why are the bathtubs in here so big, anyway?" she asked aimlessly, trying to get her bearings as Jughead smirked at her from the other end.

"I think it's so large, burly jock-types can pledge their devotion to the cruel football gods by taking ice baths."

Betty made a face. "Really? Isn't that painful?"

Jughead shrugged. "Well, I think they used to sacrifice virgins until the school realized it was hurting the freshmen recruitment numbers." He grinned.

"Ha ha." Betty rolled her eyes. She found she was getting a little more comfortable with Jughead in here with her. It was sort of nice and companionable.

"But back to the black wig thing." Jughead was fighting a smile and suddenly Betty was on high alert once more. "You got the idea from me, right?"

Betty twisted her mouth.

"Go on. You can tell me if I was your muse."

Betty gave in and laughed. "If I give you any credit, it'll go to your head. I'm not sharing the byline when I break this story in the Blue and Gold."

"Easy there, Lois Lane."

Betty raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing more.

Jughead sighed. "Fine. I'll accept that although my contribution was vital, it will remain forever behind the scenes."

"Good. You know what happens to boys who blab, Juggy." Betty winked at him jokingly, and Jughead tried not to register any expression of alarm on his face as he felt his penis stiffen inside his boxers-turned-bathing suit.

He laughed weakly. "Don't tell me you still have those handcuffs, Betts."

The look Betty gave him was stone poker face. Jughead felt all of his blood abandoning its regular routine and heading straight for his dick.

A second later, Betty was smiling innocently, back to her usual self. "Of course not."

Jughead nodded unsteadily. "Yeah I guess you wouldn't want them in your possession if that creep ever tried to press charges."

Betty's eyes widened. "That guy? I'm not worried about him. I was thinking how hard it would be to think of an excuse if my mom found handcuffs in my room."

Jughead chuckled. "You'd have to tell her you were thinking of pursuing a career in law enforcement."

"No, she hates me in uniforms of any kind."

"You want them for self-defence?"

"I think handcuffs come on a little too strong to be considered purely defensive."

"Your women's studies class is doing a unit on BDSM and you need them for a project?"

Betty looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious? That's the worst excuse imaginable."

Jughead sent a small splash in her direction. "Jeeze, just trying to help."

Betty laughed.

"I guess when it came down to it, you'd have to tell her the truth."

"The truth?"

"That you needed them to seduce a known womanizer then threaten his life by securing him in a hot tub and boiling him like a lobster."

Betty's eyes widened. "Oh my god. Thank goodness I don't have them. That is not a conversation I could survive."

Jughead chuckled and dropped his head back, carefully avoiding the faucet. "So where does she think you are tonight?"

"At Ethel's."

"Really? Don't you think it was risky to tell her the truth? Or, part truth?"

Betty shrugged. "No. My mom doesn't really know Ethel's family and in this town, that's a good thing. She has no reason to think I'm up to anything. In my mother's mind, if I'm with Veronica, I'm probably clubbing and planning corporate espionage. If I'm with Archie, well… you know."

Jughead looked at her and nodded.

"And if she knew you were with me?" He waited with baited breath.

Betty's eyes roved the ceiling as she thought. "She'd probably think I was up to something."

Jughead tried to sit up a little so as to better see the expression on Betty's face and judge how she felt about this. His foot slid out along the floor of the tub, causing his leg to rub against hers. She was very smooth. Their eyes met.

"Up to… like, what kinda thing?"

"Some criminal behaviour, no doubt." Betty let their legs remain touching, feeling suddenly full of adrenaline.

"Hey," Jughead leveled a finger at Betty. "You're the one who broke into the school with a bobby pin." He shook his head. "I did not see that coming."

Betty laughed. "And does that surprise you more or less than me boiling a jock like a lobster?"

Jughead smiled. "I'll have to think about that one."

"Well, while you think, would you mind warming up the water?" Goosebumps were creeping up Betty's leg from the place where it made contact with Jughead's. "I think you dumped all the hot stuff on the floor."

Jughead gave her a wry look. "What am I, the butler now?" He rolled his eyes and attempted to reach the tap, bending his arm up awkwardly behind him.

Betty pushed herself up onto her knees. "Never mind, let me do it." She waved her arm at him, indicating he should lean forward out of her way.

"Excuse me, I think I can turn on a tap by myself, thanks." Jughead continued to fumble around.

"Juggy, come on." Betty gripped the lip of the tub and leaned forward over Jughead just as he shifted to give himself better leverage. His leg swiped Betty's out from under her and she fell onto him with a splash. Jughead reached out for her, his hand knocking the tap, and hot water came pouring down on their heads.

Betty's hand shot up and slapped it off. She pulled herself up with an arm on either side of Jughead. She stared at him for a moment, overwhelmed, and Jughead reached up to touch her hair.

"The good news is, I think that took the last of the black out of it." His hand dropped back into the tub with a smack.

Betty looked down and laughed, bringing a hand to her forehead as she embraced the absurdity of their situation. She looked up at Jughead. "Are you ok?"

"Aside from the tsunami that went straight up my nose, yeah." He was highly aware of the way Betty was positioned between his spread legs.

She gave Jughead a little side smile and, balancing herself, pushed the soggy dark curl off his face. "I like black hair better on you, anyway. I think I'll stick to blonde from now on." Her hand lingered on his cheek. Were his eyes green or blue? This close to his face, Betty was captivated.

Jughead mustered his courage and replied, "Good. You're sexy just as you are." He elbowed Betty's supporting arm so it slipped out from under her and caught her as she dropped onto him again. Before she could say a word, Jughead's hands were in her wet hair and his lips were shaped to hers.

Betty made a noise of surprise, but when she went to push herself off of Jughead's chest, she found herself hungrily tracing her fingers over his pectoral muscles through his soaked shirt instead.

Excited by her touch, Jughead pulled Betty further up onto him. He shivered when her leg brushed his inner thigh and wrapped his arms around her, running his fingers over the lacy-feeling texture of her bra.

Betty was being persuaded deeper and deeper into the kiss, and found herself boldly stroking her tongue into Jughead's mouth. When he let out an unconstrained groan, she pulled back, shaking her head slightly.

"Juggy, what are we doing?"

"Uh, we're making the hell out, Betts." He reached for her face.

"In here though? I mean, is it sanitary?" Betty squinted her eyes and looked around.

"Trust me, they treat these Neanderthals like royalty. This bathtub's probably cleaner than Queen Elizabeth's toothbrush."

Betty tipped her head to the side and looked at him with confusion. "What?"

"I have no idea. Honestly not a lot of blood in my brain right now." Jughead moved his hand to the back of her neck and guided Betty's mouth back to his.

While they kissed, Betty noticed how quiet it was. She couldn't recall a time recently when she'd felt so relaxed. Relaxed, but also wound up in the best way possible. Betty tapped Jughead's knee and he straightened his legs out in the tub. With his lower body flat, Betty was able to move her knees to bracket his hips, straddling him so she didn't need to lean as far forward.

Jughead pulled Betty in even closer, moving her easily through the water with a hand on her back. Again he encountered the lacy texture and cautiously moved his hand up under her shirt, bumping his fingers up her spine. Jughead's hand froze over the clasp of her bra, but Betty nodded eagerly into their kiss, urging him on. It took a few seconds for him to properly articulate his pruned up fingers, but Jughead managed to get her bra unfastened.

The feeling of the now loosened cups of her bra dragging against her peaking nipples made Betty impatient for Jughead's fingers. She reached behind her, swiftly unhooking her bra straps from the back so she could pull the entire piece of lingerie off without having to remove her shirt.

When she yanked the item out from under her shirt, Jughead was baffled, but too quickly distracted to ask questions: Betty's drenched shirt had sucked back against her body, plastering to her breasts.

Jughead grasped Betty tightly, pulling her down on his lap as he worked his hand between her clinging t-shirt and bare skin. Betty was feeling overstimulated. Tightening her abdominals, Betty gingerly rubbed herself against Jughead's pulsing erection. He grunted and closed his hand over her breast. Betty pushed her chest towards him encouragingly and moved her mouth to his neck, painting bright red patches on his skin with her suctioning kisses.

Jughead's hands slipped down her body, gripping her ass and dragging her hips up his. Betty started taking over, making soft groans next to his ear as her clit clipped his cock. Jughead's nerves kicked into overdrive, making his hands shake as he felt for the hem of Betty's shirt; it was difficult to discern the soft wet fabric from her skin.

Finally, Jughead rolled a bunch into his fingers, plucking it away from her body, and pulling the sopping thing up to her shoulders. Betty straightened up, raising her arms over her head, and inadvertently resting her weight squarely on Jughead's crotch. For a second, he could only grunt in pleasure and drop his face against her breast where he gave her nipple a delicate pull with his teeth. Betty wiggled impatiently, her arms pinned over her head by the shirt, until Jughead whipped it off and sent it flying to splat wetly against a tiled wall.

Jughead brought his mouth back to her breasts, licking around and over one nipple while he manipulated the other by hand. Betty ground herself down roughly against him, scraping her nails up the back of his neck and tugging at his hair.

Without her shirt, Betty could more definitely feel the ripple and flex of Jughead's upper body against her and decided to rid him of his layer to improve the sensation. Betty leaned back, rolling her hips over his. Jughead's hands shot out to hold her, manhandling her back and forth over his erection with a look of deep concentration on his face.

Betty grinned and felt beneath the surface of the water for the edge of his shirt, grasping the slippery fabric and sliding it up. Her heart pounded erratically as she stared down at the lean, sculpted frame she was uncovering. Jughead's hands abandoned their grip on Betty's hips to allow her to remove his shirt, then came back around her, feeling their way gently up her skin to rest under her shoulder blades. Betty flung Jughead's shirt over the side of the tub, hearing it squelch gummily across the floor as it came to rest in front of the counter.

As she turned back to him, Jughead caught her gaze and held it, continuing to trace his hands lightly over her skin. Betty shuddered, vibrating on his lap and Jughead was forced to look down, taking in the sight of her lacy black panties resting atop his swollen dick. He let out a shaky exhale.

"Did I say sexy? I meant really sexy. God, Betts, I mean—"

Channeling her seductress role from earlier in the evening, Betty brought a finger to Jughead's lips to cut him off. She gripped the sides of the bathtub, bracing herself as she stood. Looking down at Jughead, Betty caught the sides of her underwear under her fingers and slipped them down her legs. Past her thighs, gravity took over, dropping them to her ankles so she could step out. As Jughead watched, Betty's panties drifted to rest on his lap. He panted hard and clenched them in his hand, letting his gaze wander adoringly back up Betty's naked form. She was wet, obviously, but she was also wet.

Carefully, so as not to make an idiot of herself at this point by slipping, Betty stepped out onto the floor. The cold tiles sent a chill up her body and Betty wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. Jughead looked at her, confused, but Betty jerked her head in the direction of the showers.

"Come on, I'm getting cold," she said.

Jughead continued to stare at Betty, her words seeping ever so slowly into his lust-fueled brain. Betty rolled her eyes and walked towards the open showers.

At the sight of Betty's retreating back, and much more interesting, her retreating ass, Jughead flung himself out of the tub like a man possessed. Water flew around him and the force of his rise tugged his boxers off his hips, leaving them pooled at the bottom of the tub when he stood. "Convenient," he muttered. He leapt over the side, his wet feet refusing to stay beneath him until he grabbed hold of the counter to steady himself.

As soon as he had his sea legs, Jughead hurried across to the showers, the slap of his footfalls echoing through the room.

Betty had already figured out the faucet and had a deliciously hot stream of water rushing down her body when Jughead reached her, pushing her back to the wall.

"Umph," Betty complained into the passionate kiss he was suddenly giving her. "Juggy, the wall's freezing."

Jughead stepped back for a second, considering this, and Betty watched in swooning delight as water hit against his chest, running down in trickles as far as she could…. Her eyes fell to his hips and the eagerly jerking protrusion between them. Betty blinked the water out of her eyes and looked up slowly to stare into Jughead's face. The gaze of his blue-green eyes was blatantly lustful and he stepped back into her space, bending slightly to slide his hands down over her hips and around to grip the backs of her thighs.

In one clean-and-jerk move, Jughead had Betty off her feet and in his arms, her legs instinctively encircling his hips. Betty smiled at him and leaned back slowly to rest her shoulders against the tile.

Jughead narrowed his eyes. "Isn't it cold?"

"I'm compromising."

He raised an eyebrow. "Compromising? Isn't this pretty much all good for me?"

Betty looking down her body and shrugged. "Yes, but I think I'm going to especially enjoy this angle."

Jughead swallowed. "Right."

He cradled her lower back and aligned his erection, the blood pumping in it like mad now, so close to the goal. Betty tipped her hips helpfully and Jughead began pressing up into her.

Hot water flooded over him and Betty's hot channel dragged him in. Jughead grunted and slapped a hand against the wall, trying not to lose himself in how snug the fit was.

Betty was being far from patient, using her legs in an effort to close the distance between their hips. In her desperate wanting, she'd stopped feeling the chill of the tile; only the heat radiating from her now-lover's body seemed to affect her.

With a sharp jerk, Betty gained ground, forcing Jughead to press further into her.

"You," Jughead panted into her shoulder, "are absolutely devious."

But Betty wasn't listening. She was resting her head back against the wall with a slack smile on her face.

When Jughead saw her expression, he felt his hunger for her overtake him and pushed into her the rest of the way with a groan. Betty's shoulders tensed and then released. She opened her eyes and shifted her hips gently from side to side, feeling Jughead's dick pass pleasurably over her g-spot.

Jughead bucked up into her automatically, and when Betty cried out, he did it again on purpose. Carefully, keeping a hand on Betty's back to support her, Jughead widened his stance, getting into what he immediately dubbed in his head as "thrusting posture."

With hot water running through his black hair and pouring down his neck, Jughead leaned into Betty, sending his tongue in past her lips to firmly stroke hers as he flicked his hips forward. She moaned, starting to drop her head back, but Jughead grabbed the back of her neck, twining his fingers into her now fully blonde hair and holding her fast in the kiss.

Jughead drove up into her, Betty's back slipping easily up and down the wall to the motion of his thrusts. He broke the kiss and leaned back a little, allowing the water to run down Betty's stomach. The hard drops of a plumbing system designed for too-tough-to-mind jocks were now being thoroughly appreciated by Betty as they hammered down on her clit. She rocked against Jughead, feeling increasingly aroused.

A quick study, Jughead inclined towards her again to thrust deeper and replaced the falling water with his thumb, which he dragged in tight circles on Betty's clit. She gasped and gripped Jughead's arms, loving the feeling of his biceps leaping under her palms. Betty pushed her hips against his more and more frantically and Jughead rose to the challenge, literally, gritting his teeth and pounding into her.

Jughead upped his game, rubbing and squeezing Betty's clit faster and faster as his thrusts became looser and less rhythmic. Betty clamped her eyes shut, her face suffused with a deep red flush, and her mouth opened in a silent yell.

In a moment, sound caught up with her and Betty gasped out, "Juggy… Juggy, God… almost…"

Jughead pressed his mouth fiercely to hers, absorbing her cries, and closed his arms around her back, grasping anywhere Betty's wet skin would allow. He rolled his hips hard against her, ending the motion in a sharp flick that bounced Betty on his hips despite the tight hold he had on her. Once, twice, and then they were crying out together, Betty's high, ripping "Juggy!" reverberating off the walls in time with Jughead's deeply groaned "Betty!"

He held her fast, letting his head fall onto her chest where he could hear her heart banging against her ribs. After a minute, when Jughead's weakening legs started to register the effort of supporting Betty, he pulled carefully out of her. She stretched her wobbling legs to the floor, reaching for his shoulders to stabilize herself.

Betty let out a deep breath and looked into Jughead's eyes. He pulled her gently under the showerhead, his eyes darting from hers to watch the water straighten out the blonde wave of her hair. Jughead took both hands and smoothed the hair back from Betty's face. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, letting the water break over her. Jughead's chest felt tight as he watched her.

After a minute, he kissed her and pulled back. Betty opened her eyes to see Jughead smiling at her.

"So," he said. "Your seduction rate for this evening balances out to 50-50."

Betty frowned in mock annoyance. "That would only be true if I had actually wanted the other guy."

"So I'm the only one for you?" Jughead smirked.

Betty nodded. "And I didn't even have to use handcuffs."

He laughed and pulled her against his chest, letting her body heat meld with his. "God, I adore you."