Okay, Bughead, they go and get Toffee. I need that cat to be okay. On the way back, Jughead pulls out a cat toy from nowhere and says, "We need to stop for food and drink for the cat and I" Betty looks at him funny, and he says, "Well, Toffee and I know you will just have a milkshake and fries Betts" she's all of a sudden taken aback because he called her Betts playfully. She hasn't heard that in so long. Or something like that???
Ā A plaintive yowl sounds from the backseat, and Bettyās heart clenches.
āHalfway there, Toffee-toff,ā she coos in the high-pitched voice she uses to talk to her cat. She deliberately avoids Jugheadās gaze in the rearview mirror. Itās the same voice she used with Hot Dog back in high school, so itās not like heās never heard it before; more importantly, he has no right to judge her. Butā¦still. She feels silly. āThree more hours, you can do it.ā
āDo you think she wants this?ā Jughead pulls something out of his jacket pocket ā one of Toffeeās toys, a shiny orange fish made of fabric that crinkles when touched. Betty hasnāt seen it in months.
She looks at him askance. āWhereād you get that?ā
āFound it under the bed.ā He crunches the toy between his fingers. āSorry, I know you wanted them all in the duffel bag. I just figured she might want one to play with on the drive up.ā
Betty keeps her eyes on the road as a strange sensation swells in her chest. Itās a sweet thought, albeit one thatās very far off-base for a cat like Toffee.
āI think sheās too freaked out by all this to want to play.ā
This meaning, well, this: the fact that Toffeeās long-lost guardian had finally swooped back into town with a strange man in tow, packed up her apartment, shoved Toffee into the much-hated cat carrier, and then piled it all into her car before starting the six-hour drive back up to Riverdale.
When sheād mentioned she was making the trip down to Virginia at happy hour the other night, she hadnāt expected Jughead to offer to accompany her. Even when he had offered, she hadnāt expected him to actually follow through. But there he was, standing in her driveway at eight oāclock the next morning with his hands tucked into his pockets, just as sheād asked.
Now that theyāre back on the road, sheās grateful that he came ā packing her things would have taken her twice as long as a solo activity. She just doesnāt really understand why heād volunteered to do so in the first place.
Jughead twists around in his seat to look at the cat, smushed up into a little ball in the back of the carrier. āYeah, I guess youāre right.ā
When he tucks the toy fish back into his jacket, she says, āI thought you hated cats.ā
āHate is a strong word.ā
āI remember the phrase beasts from hell being used more than once.ā
āThat was just my grandparentsā cat,ā Jughead says dismissively. āThat cat was an asshole. I had a roommate back in Iowa who had a cat, and he was great.ā
Betty is glad her ears arenāt mobile like Toffeeās are, because otherwise theyād perk up at the sound of the word Iowa. Heās mentioned his college years only a handful of times in the few weeks theyāve been talking again, and never in any detail. Sheās curious to fill in those blank spaces.
āWe should stop soon,ā he continues, before she can tug on the Iowa thread any further. āGet some food. Give olā Toffee a chance to stretch her legs in the fresh air.ā At Bettyās look, he laughs. āIām joking, Betts.ā
Her heart leaps into her throat. It took several weeks of carefully avoiding one another in Riverdale before heād even addressed her directly as Betty. She hasnāt heard him speak with this sort of affection sinceā¦well, itās been years.
āNot about the food part, I bet.ā
āNope.ā She doesnāt look, but she can hear the smile in his voice. āNever about the food part.ā
(send me a prompt. literally any prompt!)
