Jughead and Betty are back in their hospital room, trying to heal and figure out what happened with Jughead. Why was he sick? What is going on with them? Will they ever get over what happened?

Chapter Fourteen.

Betty POV.

"Now that everything is over…can we talk about what just happened, please Juggie?" I ask him. His warmth radiates all over his body as he holds me close to him. His hospital bed is small but he insisted that I lay up here with him. I think if I moved away from him he might actually break. I don't know if he'd be able to get over this one. We need each other right now.

"Yeah," he says with a sigh.

"So the doctor said that was from the bacteria in your wounds?" I clarify. I was not allowed to the in the room while that exchange occurred so I need to make sure that what Juggie is telling me is the whole truth and not something that he wants to tell me just so that he does not have to have me worrying about him, which I might do anyway.

"Yeah. That's all. Give me a couple of days and I will all back to normal, Cooper," he says with a happy expression that I actually believe. Even though we are both still afraid and feel weird from everything that happened these last couple of days, we can finally rest. We are safe from Penelope and everyone else involved in it. We are safe from everything. We can just be together now. I squeeze Juggie a little closer and rest my head on his chest, running my fingers up and down his hospital gown and over his collarbone.

"I love you," he whispers in a deep voice that is sort of raspy. It scares me a little bit when I think I can hear the sound of thick tears in the back of his throat. I let me hand play with his hair and meet his eyes so that he cannot hide a thing from me.

"I love you too," I tell him. "What are you thinking?"

He gives me a small smile and leans down to kiss my forehead, which makes me smile.

"I'm just thinking about everything we have been through these last couple of days. It's been horrible, Bets. Who does that? We just ran through the woods for days on end with no sleep, no food, fighting for our lives every step of the way. Not to mention that there were some horrible psychological games played. I mean, what are we supposed to think about that?" he says, throwing his hand up. He rests it back down on the mattress and reach across us to take it. He sighs, leaning back into the mattress as we hold hands and hold each other.

"You know that I was jealous of Archie once but I never thought that you would really be with him. I mean…I was never worried about it," Jughead says.

"I know," I affirm. I sit up a little bit so that he can see my face. There are things we both need to confirm with each other because of what Penelope did. She brought up so many things that we thought were long gone or that we thought did not need any more discussion. But now they are out in the open, begging to be spoken about. Those topics can no longer be avoided. They must be touched. "You know that there was a time when I wanted to be with Archie. But when I was with you…it was all about you. When I realized that I wanted you that was it, Juggie. There were moments when I strayed when you and I were broken up because I was afraid but that was all. It's always been you."

"I know," he says with a confirmed smile. He leans down and kisses my forehead again. I can feel him tense up before he pulls away again and then sighs.

"What is it?" I ask. "It's okay. Just say it."

"Did you ever have feelings for Sweet Pea?" he blurts out.

"No," I say honestly, shaking my head.

"Did something happen between you two?"

I shake my head again.

"He came outside to talk to me after you yelled at me after the Serpent Dance. He tried to kiss me but I didn't let him. I told him that I just didn't want anything like that from him," I explain, all true. Jughead throws a hand down his face and then gives me a nod, clearly not liking that answer at all. It is the truth. That is all I can give him now.

"Juggie there is something else I wanted to talk about," I admit.

He waits.

"You explained all of the horrible things that happened when you were younger and you were really upset. Do you want to talk about that? It might be good for you," I say, knowing his answer but also knowing that he needs that opportunity. He was crying and all he was doing was talking about. He shudders and pulls me closer.

"No more of that," he says.

"Come on. What about what she said about us? Your worst memory…I had no idea that happened," I tell him, recalling the memory where he told everyone that Malachi was going to kill him but that he threatened me. Juggie really thought that Malachi had done something terrible to me, something a lot worse than beat me up.

"I can't even talk about that," he says.

"Please."

I wait a few more moments. When I think he is not going to say anything about it, he clears his throat so I look up to see his expression has changed. While his tears have not yet fallen they are resting inside his eyes, just waiting for the vulnerable moment. He runs his tongue over his lips before taking his lower one in between his teeth. That's when the tears fall and a few sobs wrack his upper body. His chest heaves, making sad, high pitched noises in his throat.

I grab him around his sides and pull him in for a hug, holding onto his entire body. I let him put his scraggly hair and hat against my shoulder as I hold him tight.

"When I couldn't fight them off and I was on the ground, Malachi came right up to my face. He told me that this would change nothing. He told me he'd find you and have his way with you and there was nothing I could do about it. Bets, when I woke up and my dad said something was wrong, I really thought that he—"

Jughead stops short and cries again into my shoulder. I squeeze him tighter, my own tears falling from my face.

"It's okay, Juggie," I promise. "It's over. Nothing ever happened to me. I was fine and the other day when Malachi attacked me, you saved me. You always save me, Jug."

His cries stop and he pulls away a little bit, still holding onto me but now more like he is holding me instead of me holding his weight. He leans back on the bed and lets himself catch his breath.

"I was serious about being with you forever," he says. "I know we're too young to get married. But what I meant was that I want to have every experience with you."

I give him a little smile that makes the happiness return to his eyes. He nods back, returning with that tiny smirk that makes me feel just a little bit better.

"And you will," I promise with a smile. "We will."

"I can't believe it's over. It's really over," Jughead says with a loud sigh.

"Yes it is," I assure. "It's over. We're safe."

It feels almost surreal, no way that we are finally alone and finally safe from the horrors of that woods. It was so terrifying that truthfully, I cannot believe it. But when I am laying in my loves arms and we are falling asleep together without a lick of pain or a whip of fear, I realize that maybe it is over. Maybe we can be safe again.

"I love you, Juggie," I promise him as we fall asleep. "I love you forever."

This is the LAST chapter! (Unless I randomly get some inspiration or someone suggests something I want to write). But it feels very complete now so I think I will leave it here. Please review! Don't forget to check out Bughead Series and my MALEC fanfic. Both of those are regularly updated.