With My Own Eyes

It was two am and Jughead couldn't sleep. He could hear the loud snoring coming from the bed beside his blow-up mattress. Archie had been asleep off and on the entire night, tossing and turning. If he wasn't already having trouble sleeping, Jughead was sure that this would've kept him up.

As Jughead rolled over to face the window, he saw a dull light leaking from between the cracks of the curtains. Moving as carefully and as quietly as he could, he walked over and peeked through the window.

Sure enough, Betty's light was on. He could see her pacing back and forth across her room, holding a notebook and wiggling a pen between her fingers. Jughead gave a sad smile as he saw the confused and frustrated expression marring her face. She'd been so stressed out lately. There had been no new leads to follow and she was insistent that if she went over everything they already knew enough she'd have an epiphany. Instead she was just exhausting herself.

It didn't take long for him to decide to go over there. He'd already pulled a flannel button-up over his t-shirt and proper pants over his boxers before he realized what he was doing. If she was going to be up all night working then he may as well help her. It's not like he was sleeping... or doing anything of import for that matter.

He walked carefully down the steps, not wanting to wake anyone else in the house. As he slipped out the door, the cool night air hit him and Jughead gave an involuntary shiver. It wasn't exactly a cold night, but the lightly breeze seemed capable of cutting right through his clothes and into his bones.

From the street he could see the warm light pouring from Betty's window and illuminating the ground under it. He was pleased to see that the ladder was still leaning against the house, albeit not directly under her window anymore. Jughead smiled as he walked over and gently moved the ladder over to where it was before. He took a breath and carefully climbed to the top, being as quiet as possible.

As he stood on top of the ladder, looking in, he saw that Betty was no longer pacing. She was sitting cross legged on her bed, facing the window, eyes downcast at the pen in her hands. She looked exhausted, a slight pout forming on her pursed lips. Jughead leaned forward and tapped lightly at the window.

Betty's eyes widened and her head shot up immediately, snapping to the window. Her mouth was open slightly, her face in a shocked expression but it quickly softened as soon as she saw who it was. She walked over to the window, and for the first time Jughead got a good look at what she was wearing. The shorts she sported weren't long enough to cover their own pockets, which hung down her legs an inch or so beyond the hem of the bottoms. Her tiny night shirt hung low on her neck, letting the top of her pink bra show. He swallowed hard as she opened the window.

"Juggie, what are you doing here?" Betty whispered, a smile ghosting across her features. He climbed in through the window and gave a quick smile.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep and noticed that your light was on. I know how hard you've been working on the case lately and..." Jughead smiled as Betty slowly walked towards him. "And I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"That's sweet of you, but I'm fine. There's more important things for me to worry about." She gave a half shoulder shrug and walked over to her vanity where the book she'd been holding was now open. "I've been going over all the details, but it still feels like..." She shook her hand in an effort to find the words she's looking for. She huffed and turned to face him, "you know?"

Jughead knew his face was giving away both his confusion and concern. He gave a soft chuckle. "I know," he began, "that you're not going to have a breakthrough if you don't let yourself rest and regroup." He stepped cautiously towards Betty as she quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, you know what I think?" Her voice was full of challenge as she met him in the middle of the room. He gave a smirk and waited for her to continue. "I think that if we double down on this right now, we may find something. I feel like I'm so close to a breakthrough."

"Fine," he smiled, "you win."

"Really?" Betty almost looked disappointed, as if she was hoping he'd push and she'd be able to stop for the night.

"Well, that was why I came over here." As her eyes fell and looked past him, Jughead hurried to backtrack. "Of course, I'd prefer it if you'd get some rest. Please?"

Betty knew that part of this was just her sleep deprived mind making mischief, and part of her didn't care. "Well how would you know the difference? I could agree and as soon as you leave, I could continue my research."

"I could see your light on from Archie's window. I could see you pacing." Jughead admitted.

"Mr. Jones!" She faked being shocked. "You've been spying on me?"

"Of course not!" He replied too quickly.

"Well as long as you didn't see anything... naughty." She tried not to let her eyes widen at her own words.

Jughead swallowed hard, his mouth becoming instantly dry. "Like what?" The words slipped out before he could stop them, and before he could fix it, Betty leaned in towards him.

"If I told you," she pressed her hand into his chest, burning him through his shirt, "that would ruin the surprise." Her lips were so close to his ear and Jughead could feel her hot breath on his neck. Every word seemed to thrum through his blood and rush into his hardening dick.

Betty pulled back and made eye contact with him, her bright blue eyes meeting his stormy ones. His tortured face, eyes half-lidded, mouth slightly open, gave Betty a new-found confidence. She took his hands in hers and he smiled. Unable to stop himself, he pulled her flush against him. She let out a slight gasp at the sudden contact, but quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. She could feel the hard ridge through the front of his jeans and she pressed herself further into him.

"I'm glad you came." She whispered as she lifted her chin towards him.

"Me too." Jughead wound one of his arms around her waist and slid his other hand into her soft golden hair. Their lips were barely an inch apart and he couldn't help his eyes drifting down to look at her shiny parted lips. This didn't go unnoticed by the blond and she blushed as she watched his eyes ghosting her face from under his dark eyelashes. How had she never noticed how attractive Jughead was? She'd looked past him her whole life, and for a moment Betty wondered if she'd still be looking past him if he hadn't kissed her. It was like finding a fork in the road you never knew existed and realizing that you'd been missing out on the whole town. He'd become so much to her over the past few weeks. Betty wasn't sure she'd ever be able to go back to her old life. Her eyes traced down his sharp face, lingering on his lust-filled eyes and finally settling on his lips.

Jughead let out a tiny breath of air before he closed the gap and pressed his lips against hers. Betty moaned into his mouth and arched a leg over his hip. His hand caught her leg and held it against him as he traced his fingers along the hem of her shorts. He pulled her leg tighter to him, and ground lightly against her core. Betty couldn't help the low moan tumbling from her lips when she realized that his erection was pressing squarely against her wet center. She ran her tongue along his bottom lip while grinding back against him in earnest. Jughead parted his lips and slanted them against hers, pushing his tongue into her mouth.

He could barely think straight. When he'd seen her in her window earlier, he'd honestly meant to come over and help her or convince to her to rest... and he knew he was failing at both of those goals. Sure, he'd imagined coming up here to help and maybe earning a kiss before leaving, but this was something else. Jughead found himself only able to think of how Betty smelled, how soft her skin was against his, and how her hair tangled around his fingertips. As he swept his tongue into her mouth with a soft moan, another thought came into his mind: She tasted like vanilla lip gloss.