Peace and Quiet

While everything in Riverdale seemed to be rumbling with thunder and falling apart, there was one thing—one person—that helped keep Betty sane.

Jughead Jones was her saving grace.

"I think you might be the only sane person left in Riverdale, Juggy," Betty told him, trying to blink back the tears from her eyes. The two were laying in the grass not far from the banks of Sweetwater River—the fateful body of water that was central in changing the whole town.

Betty knew she was supposed to be scared of this place, but she and Jughead liked to come to the river for that very reason. Everyone else in town avoided its banks. Out in the grass by the river, they could truly be alone for a little while.

"Well if that's true, then we're living in a sad, sad world," Jughead said with a smirk. Betty rolled towards him, laying her head on his chest. When Jughead wrapped his arm around her shoulders, Betty could swear she had never felt safer.

"You're like a beanie-wearing rock," Betty told him, smiling at her own little tease. "You're the only person who has been steady in all of this."

"I have Cheryl Blossom and the rest of that crazy family as competition. This really is not a hard race to win, Betty."

Jughead was joking, but Betty meant it truly. While Archie was suddenly more of a stranger than a childhood friend, Veronica had her own things going on, the Blossom family was parading themselves as innocent lambs, and even her own parents didn't feel like people she could trust…Well, Jughead was by far the best.

"You would win the race anyway." Betty could feel Jughead's heartbeat against her cheek. It was such a strong and steady sound that it gave her strength. "Even if you are 'weird'."

Betty tipped her head so that she could kiss Jughead on the lips. She slid her hand underneath his ever-present gray beanie so she could run her hand through his dark hair.

Jughead's own hand traced a thumb across her cheek. He kissed her softly, and then more deeply, shifting their weight so that Betty sunk into the grass beneath him. He kissed her until Betty thought she truly had lost her mind.

She wondered if this is how Polly had felt kissing Jason. Maybe that's why she had agreed to his plan for them. Maybe that's why Betty had heard her crying out in her sleep for him, because she felt the same way kissing Jason that Betty did then kissing Jughead.

Maybe Polly had felt her whole boy ignite on fire the way Betty did.

No wonder their parents wanted the two separated.

"This whole town is crazy," Jughead told her. "We're probably crazy, too. We just don't know it yet."

Betty shook her head, her blonde ponytail tangling itself in the grass. "No. You're not, anyway. You're the only quiet shelter in this storm, Juggy."