Thanks to my reviewers: Chloee0x0, Boris Yeltsin, dezibear57, sophiecambellbower, thosechosenpirates, and winterbabyalways!

June came with a heat that could not be stifled. The apartment's old AC, which looked like it was held together with duct tape and hope, finally broke down the first week when temperatures reached the 90s. When they called their landlord out to take a look at it, he gave a withering laugh and just shook his head. This unit had been unchanged for nearly 30 years. It was hardly a surprise that the amenities of it were kicking the can. He screwed around for a little bit, tapped it and kicked it, and eventually just gave a shrug.

If that were not frustrating enough, he gazed around the apartment and snickered, "Yeah, likely won't be long 'till the rest of it goes," He said critically.

This lead to a discussion on their patio, a rarity for their price range, or at first they had thought. It wasn't the most stable and probably wasn't going to become more stable, so they only dared to venture out a scant few times. The heat had driven them out here most nights, where the breeze from the busy city streets drifted up and gave the pair some much-needed relief.

"Do you think this means that the place is going to start breaking down, one thing at a time? Like, first our fridge, then our dishwasher, then our locks, or…" Jughead scratched his head.

"What do you mean 'or'," Betty asked, having not seen any other way to take his meaning.

"You saw him! He's like ancient. What are the chances that he dies soon and someone else takes over this apartment? Maybe it's already happening."

"That dude was here at the start of these apartments and he'll be around until the end of time," Betty snorted, "You're head is messing up your fictional story-lines with reality."

Jughead tipped back his water bottle but found it empty, but Betty could tell that he was not satisfied.

"What?"

"It's just…" He coughed, "Hear me out. I do not agree with your mother on 99.9% of occasions-,"

"God, we're bringing my mother into this?"

"But what maybe I do agree with her about is moving. In a different way, of course."

"Out of...here?" Betty echoed. As shitty as this apartment felt sometimes, Betty had grown attached to the slightly off-beige walls or the sink that sometimes leaked from the edge or the AC unit that they were having a funeral for tomorrow.

"Just a thought," Jughead mumbled, "Lease needs to be signed in a few weeks anyway. We could find something else. Something…" He began, but then bit off the end of his words.

"Something what?"

"Just think about it."

Betty knew this wasn't what he'd been about to say, but she realized there would be no budging him. While it bothered her, Jughead only got more argumentative and moody when you tried to push him somewhere he didn't want to go. It would do no good to bother him because chances are he'd never bring it up.

If it was something that was pressing so much on his mind, Betty was confident within a few weeks, he'd have to tell her.

XXxxXX

As the summer classes began to dwindle, Betty's hours shortened at the Library. She found herself home quite often, cleaning and re-cleaning and organizing nearly everything in their apartment.

It also gave her far too much time to obsess over things she should not be thinking about.

Her family.

God, she wished there was some magic eraser like there was for sinks that she could use on her mind. Something that she could just wipe away the memory of her mother or her father. She'd keep Polly, she supposed. For sure Dagwood and Juniper. For as much as she was glad she stood up to her mom and as glad she was that she did not have to associate with them other than the obligations that still stood in place, she found herself wondering a lot.

Usually, someone caved. Usually, her mother had called her by now with some half-baked apology. It never felt truly genuine, but it was a start, or it was the proof of some affections, hidden somewhere.

As the days went on, Betty was more concerned by the lack of contact.

She wished she didn't remember what it felt like to have the good days with them. If her entire childhood was a wash, maybe it would have been easier to banish them from her mind.

Yet here she was.

She found herself checking her phone logs constantly, as though maybe her phone didn't ring right and the call was still collected. She refreshed her mother's Facebook page, wondering if perhaps it was just work that was keeping her super busy.

She imagined what she'd even say if they reached back out. Surely, she'd be furious. Not just about the scenes they'd made, but that they held out on her for so long. Maybe it would start another screaming match.

Maybe this is what Betty needed, just one more reminder that she was better off without them.

Or maybe her mother was more sly than she'd ever given her credit for. Maybe she knew that not calling her daughter would drive Betty mad and it would force Betty to reach out to her herself.

That villain!

"Occam's razor," Betty muttered to herself on the couch one night after seeing nothing that would keep a mother from apologizing to her daughter under Alice Cooper's page. Most likely, she was working herself up nothing. The best answer was that Alice Cooper simply didn't give Betty or this entire 'plan' that didn't exist a second thought.

Jughead glanced up from his work, brows knitting. "Hmm?"

"Oh, nothing," Betty said with a sigh, "Just in my own head about something."

"Can I help at all?"

"No, you can't," Betty said with a tight smile, "And you shouldn't have to. I'm okay."

Whether or not Jughead believed her was hard for her to tell, but he didn't press her, just as she gave him his space sometimes.

She wasn't sure if she wanted him to press harder or not. Should she be upset that he let it go so easily? Was she being silly for thinking this? Should she be more upset that he even asked?

Betty groaned; fuck you, mom , she thought. Her mom was going to get exactly what she wanted if she kept this up; Jughead out of her daughter's life. Even if she wasn't here to carefully implode their relationship, the bitter seeds of her effects were still rippling across the surface of everything.

XXxxXX

"And then I was thinking, well, heists should start at the back. Not the plot, but the plan." Jughead was gesticulating with his hands.

"Oh, yeah." Betty nodded, leaning on the countertops as Jughead sat on one of the barstools. Though she was looking at Jughead, her phone with her mother's newly-created Instagram (her mother? On Instagram? God, what was this?) was up and brightly shown. Betty refreshed it, as though something would have popped up within the last two minutes.

"So if I know the end, then I can write the beginning."

"Yeah."

"So I'm going to release a tiger from the zoo, possibly kill the president, and maybe sleep with Veronica. That sound good?"

"Yeah."

Jughead's hand flipped over her phone. She jolted, looking up, as her brain caught up with Jughead's last sentence. Embarrassment and anger flooded her face, feeling stupid and like the worst girlfriend in the world.

"Juggie, I-,"

"Babe, it's sort of hard to bounce story ideas off someone who isn't paying attention." To his credit, he was scarily calm. She expected an outburst or some sort of argument, but instead, he was just scrutinizing her with the one expression she still hadn't quite figured out.

"I know, god, I know. I'm so sorry. I'm guessing that the last part isn't part of the plot?" She groaned, hiding her face.

"I was seeing if you were really paying attention. So, no." Jughead said, "You wanna talk about this?" He tapped the back of her phone.

"I…" Betty faltered, "There's nothing to talk about."

Jughead gave a hard laugh, something that felt ugly and Betty just winced. She didn't want to talk about it though. She didn't want to bother him with this or to let him know how much this was bothering her.

"Stay there," Jughead said, motion to her with a finger. Betty, confused, straightened her back. She watched him nip into his bedroom and he came back a second later, hand shoved in his hoodie pocket.

"Your mom did a real fucking number on you. I get it, families do that," Jughead said, "Don't speak." He said as Betty opened her mouth to reply. He took out a rectangle that Betty knew very well by sight and deposited it into her hands. She was almost going to say something that maybe this was not the time for sex, but she owed it to him, didn't she?

"We're going to do an exercise in this. Your biggest issue is you hate not being in control." Jughead said.

"That's not true!" Betty said, not liking how he said it. Like she was...was...her mother or something!

"Oh, please. Who designed the entire house?"

"You're a guy! You weren't offering any design help," Betty said, who thought their apartment looked very nice, under the circumstances of most of their furniture. She would admit that sometimes when Archie came over and moved the couch, it did irk her until she moved it back into place.

"And remember when your teacher gave you exact roles for that group project and you almost had a hernia when you were given the treasurer?"
"The person given the 'leader' title was inadequate!"

"Or, think about how the last time we went out to drinks with Veronica, you wanted to go to that one taproom until it was Veronica calling the shots?"

"I suddenly remembered I didn't like that place," Betty said, though in her gut she knew that the last one hit a little close to home.

"Betts, really." Jughead breathed out, "Part of why you're stalking your mom's Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter- and yes, I know you've been checking all of those- is because it's in her hands. This uncertainty, this lack of anything on your end is killing you. But it's closed, babe. It's done with. You just don't like that the next call is hers and you have no idea when, if, or what it will be."

Betty gnawed on her lip, "So if that's true, the coupon? You think if I handcuff you, I'll get that sense of control back and I'll be better? Since when are you a shrink," She teased, though it was half to cover up the fact that she disliked that he had pegged her so well.

"Oh, babe," Jughead kissed her forehead, grinning ear to ear, "No, we're going to practice you letting go of the control. I'm not going to be handcuffed...you are."

XXxxXX

This coupon was different from others. Usually, the sex happened immediately after the presentation of a coupon. The one hiccup here was that Jughead had to go to teach his class and after a quick conversation it was revealed that neither owned a pair of handcuffs. It wasn't a kink either of them had, though Betty had thought about it before. She hadn't gone so far as to actually buy a pair, however, since that seemed over the top.

"This doesn't mean you're getting out of it," Jughead said, "Either you call Veronica or I call Archie."

"How are you sure they'll have some?" Betty tilted her head.

"Oh, c'mon. Those two make porn stars seem innocent. They have some. I also found some in Archie's gym bag once. So, who do we contact?"

"Veronica," Betty groaned. She knew Archie wouldn't mean to tell anyone, but he didn't exactly have a filter sometimes. He just said things innocuous that certainly weren't to Reggie or to Chuck and soon it would be all around campus that Jug and Betty were into BDSM. With the way rumors circulated and got out of control, by the time she heard it repeated back to her, it would be that she and Jughead owned an underground BDSM club and were the main-stage stars on Tuesdays.

Somehow, Betty was sure it would make it back to her parents.

She gave a dry laugh. Maybe they'd contact her then.

"Good. If you don't, I will," He said, "This is for your own good."

"Oh, and you won't get any pleasure from it at all?" Betty teased, though there was a sour tone under it all.

"None," Jughead replied with a wide grin, "Just doing something for the good of my girlfriend." He kissed her soundly, making it hard for her sour feelings to stay.

As soon as he was gone, Betty picked up her phone. She saw her mom's Instagram on the screen and groaned.

Maybe Jughead was right.

She called Veronica.

"Hey, darling, what's up? I was just about to go for my weekly Mani/Pedi. You in?"

"I uh, actually, have a favor," Betty said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"How can I make your day more fabulous?" Veronica said, sounding pleased as punch to be asked.

"Do you...have any…" Betty sighed, "Handcuffs?"

There was a long pause.

"Oh, Betty!" Veronica squealed, "You and Jughead are getting a little dirtier? Trying out some other things? You know, I also have some riding crops and silk ties. Ooh! You know what you should try? I have some paddles and clamps that-,"

"No, no!" Betty said, her face bright scarlet, "Just the handcuffs will be necessary. Nothing else. It's probably not sanitary," She added after a second. More than that, if Veronica described any more toys in greater detail, it would procure an idea that Betty would never be able to bleach from her mind.

"I guess we have to start you off slow," Veronica sighed dramatically, "I can drop off a pair in like an hour."

"Perfect," Betty said, glad she didn't have to get them from Veronica. Even if she stuffed them in her purse, knowing her luck they'd fall out as she was digging for her subway ticket or as she was getting into the Uber.

"I just have one more question; do you want the classic pair, the fuzzy pair, or the leather pair?"

XXxx

While waiting for Jughead to get home, Betty realized something.

She didn't like this.

In the beginning, she'd torn out the cards she wasn't comfortable with, so it's not like she was uncomfortable with this coupon. Did she imagine that she'd be the one locking Juggie up? Oh, undoubtedly.

It wasn't that.

And she knew that if she were ever truly unsure about something or had changed her mind about a card, Jughead would never force her to do something she did not want to do. But it was not that she had changed her mind about being okay with this particular act.

And, it wasn't as though she didn't want to have sex with Jughead. Part of her problem, she thought, was that she wanted to have sex with him all the time. She was incredibly turned on by everything that damn boy did.

Bite his lip while writing? Horny.

Ruffle his hair while he laughed? She might as well just jump him.

Freaking spell words out when he was trying to figure out the right way to spell something, totally not paying attention to her, in his ratty sweatpant and t-shirts at 2 AM? Sploosh.

So no, it wasn't the coupon or the activity or the lack of attraction.

It was that she was realizing very quickly that Jughead had her right on the money. The one reason she didn't want to do this was that she didn't like giving up control.

This realization told her she probably should do it.

If she was going to practice this with anyone, it should be her boyfriend, who she knew would never steer her wrong or do anything she didn't want him to. She trusted him implicitly, something she trusted few others to do. As much as she adored Veronica, she'd never let her tie Betty up like this, sexually or non-sexually!

She stared down at the soft pink ones in her hands.

She'd told Veronica the original. She hadn't wanted Jughead to get ideas about the type of girl she was because of her choices. However, Veronica hadn't listened at all.

"Oh, the original one has been lost to the universe. Besides, for the first time, you probably want something a bit softer, m'dear." Veronica said, handing over two pairs to her.

Now, she just waited.

Her text message beeped.

It was from Jug.

I'll be home in ten. Do you have them?

Betty sent back a thumbs up.

Good, I want you naked when I return ;)

Betty bit her lip. She was not upset with Jughead taking a bit more control of their sexual life, he'd shown the tendencies of it before, but she'd always pushed back. It had never been completely him with all the power and her with none. Even during the role-play session, it had been a careful balance.

She was relinquishing all the power to him now.

She breathed in, taking off her clothes. If she focused on what she found incredibly sexy, which was the tone she knew Jughead had under that text message, it was easier.

Jughead arrived exactly 10 minutes later, a near feat in New York.

"Mhh, yep," He said, eyeing her up and down, "Can I always come home to this?" He teased.

"What about when I'm working?"

"Well, you can come home to me naked. I'm for gender equality, after all," He said and leaned down to kiss her, pushing her back onto her bed with light force. Betty almost resisted but remembered and let herself flop backward.

She tried to undo Jug's flannel, but he swatted her hand away.

"No, no," He teased gently, biting her lip, "You don't get to touch."

"Jug...really?" Betty groaned.

"Oh, I'm serious," He said, looking down at her through hooded eyes, "Speaking of which…" He found the handcuffs next to her. If he had anything to say about the fact that they were bright pink and very soft, he didn't make a motion. He tilted his head, spotting the keys on the bedside table, and gave a nod of satisfaction.

As he clicked her first hand to her headboard, he paused, "Safeword?" He questioned, sitting back on his haunches. Betty gave an experimental tug and found it fairly secure with not a lot of slack. She felt the heat rising in her nether areas, despite her reservations about the position of herself.

"Uhm, er, Beetlejuice," Betty said the first strange thing that entered her mind. Jughead chuckled.

"Do you have to say it three times?"

"No," Betty narrowed her eyes, "Once should suffice. What would be yours?"

She expected Jughead to have to think about it, but he was completely ready with an answer.

"Justin Bieber. A word that guarantees no one is having a good time once they hear that."

Betty couldn't help but laugh out loud, trying to imagine the kibosh that would put on any sexual encounter.

"Have you ever had to...use it?" She obviously knew Jughead had sex before her, but to what extent she was unsure. She knew that he knew that she'd only been with Sweet Pea a handful of fairly vanilla times. Plus, talking helped as Jughead strung up her other arm.

"Once," He said as though it was casual, "Any further and it could have been a nasty burn." He said, as though that didn't make her terribly curious, "Stop talking to avoid things, Betts," He said, realizing her game.

"Well, I'm all yours," She said.

"Almost," Jughead said and pulled out a thick piece of red ribbon from his back pocket.

"Damn Veronica," Betty growled.

"She cornered me as I was leaving. I don't disagree though." He paused, seeing her face, "Beetlejuice?"

"No, no," She sighed, "Go on."

"You know, taking away one sense heightens the others. Plus, I want you to be completely at my mercy…" He said, tying it securely behind her. At once, the world was dark.

She tensed, waiting for whatever Jughead would do next.

"God, laid out like this," Jughead skimmed a finger down her side and Betty gasped, not expecting it. He ran his finger all over her skin, making her squirm, stopping just before he reached the back of her leg, where she was ticklish. Instead, he brought his fingers to the junction of her legs, though she did not delve deeper. Betty rocked her hips to try to get him to touch there, but he was wickedly against it.

"Do you want me to touch you?" He asked.

"Yes, please," She whined.

"Well, that's unfortunate." She could hear the humor behind his voice as he left her wet center and brought his hand upwards. It was a weird juxtaposition with Betty in a position where she had no idea where he was going next, but at the same time being very aware of how his clothed body shifted against her naked one. She could feel the softness of his flannel, the bite of his jeans, and the coolness of his metal buttons pressing on to her flesh.

Jughead's warm tongue touched her nipple and she pressed her shoulders against the bed in response, trying to focus on the pleasure he was giving her by toying with her breasts, licking and pulling and biting, just gently enough to give her that zing of need.

As he was biting and kissing up her neck, she was preoccupied enough not to realize one of his hands had left her upper half and reappeared below. She hardly had a moment to reorient her mental picture of Jughead's position before his finger was teasing the nub at the top of her slit, making her gasp. He covered her mouth with his lips, working her steadily and achingly. He knew the push and pull of her body well enough that every time she was about to tip off the edge, he'd pull back and let it edge off just enough before he dived back in.

"Jug, damn you," She said, trying to angle her body towards his fingers, her skin slick with sweat from the constant high and low he was currently giving to her.

"Do you want to come?" He asked, nipping at her ear.

"Yes!" Betty cried.

"Yes…?"

"Sir, please, sir," She whined. She felt Jughead harden through his jeans. Interesting; he'd liked it during their roleplay too. As much as this was about Jughead torturing her, she had learned a kink of his, she was pretty sure.

Jughead didn't disappoint. He rubbed and pinched with his thumb while his other fingers pumped in and out of her, stretching her out and letting her finish. She was pressing her eyes closed together so hard that there were white stars shooting across her vision.

He got up and she felt the absence of his warmth immediately. She heard a ruffling of clothes and when he was on top of her again, he was bare-chested and his jeans were off. He just needed to rid himself of his boxers and he'd be as naked as she was.

He knelt on top of her, kissing her with both his hands on her face, holding her cheeks. He began to rock against her like they were horny teens, and Betty was embarrassed by the wetness she was surely depositing onto the fabric. Still, she needed that friction and as her hands were tied, to pull Jughead closer by locking her legs around his waist were the best she could do.

Jughead wasted no space between them as he slid out of his boxers. The softness of his boxers was replaced immediately by the warmth of his body pressed flush against hers.

He guided himself down by her and pressed at her entrance in the same manner he'd handled getting her off before. It was enough to make her go crazy with want but he wasn't committing all the way, instead of leaving Betty trying to make that connection.

He retreated back in the v of her legs. She felt him move her legs further apart and push her up on the pillow a bit so she was wide open to him. He pressed himself to her entrance and pushed in one slick movement. She was almost embarrassed by how wet she was if him bottoming out didn't feel so good.

His hands stayed on her thighs, pushing her farther open as he began to rock. One of his hands rubbed her clit and swiped along the inside of her thighs before pressing his lips against her fingers. Betty's tongue flicked out to taste herself. She groaned, the shudder sending a vibration through her entire body.

Once he started, he didn't last long.

Jughead hunched over to kiss her hard, his hand grasping the edge of her ass to lift her to allow the deepest he'd ever been inside of her. Betty's fingers clenched and unclenched in their prison; she wanted to run her fingers through his hair, scratch his back, and pull him tighter against her. She wanted to see his face as he pressed into her, watch that crinkle of his forehead and the wetness of his lips.

The frustration of not being able to do either of those did open a new peak of pleasure she didn't know, as she turned the things making her squirm into movements to match his.

She felt like she'd done a full work-out, despite being tied, with how much contorting and movement she was trying to push since she was otherwise immobile. The lack of an AC certainly didn't help. At this point, she was unsure if it was sweat from their sex or sweat from the heat that coated their bodies.

Jughead finished with a shudder, holding her close for two or three beats. She could feel how hard his heart was beating through their contact, the pace a match to hers.

Jughead slid off to the side. He leaned across her to undo the cuffs and uncover her eyes.

"That was better than I thought it would be," Betty admitted after a quiet second.

"I'll take it," Jughead grinned, pulling her against him.

She relaxed into his figure, pulling her legs up against him. They often relaxed naked together like this after sex, Jughead tracing patterns on the back of her skin and Betty sinking into his scent.

Perhaps it was the amount of work they'd just done, perhaps it was the exhaustion from her lack of autonomy, perhaps it was the summer heat, but before Betty knew it, they'd slid into a slumber.

XXxx

Betty jolted to the sound of an alarm. She was incredibly discombobulated. It took her a couple of seconds to realize she was in her bed, under her thin covers.

What struck her next was that Jughead's arms were soundly around her, his face buried in her hair.

Blearily, she reached for his phone, going off on the counter.

Eight A.M.

They'd slept through the night together.

Never once had this happened. He always curled away long before this happened. Was it on purpose? Had they just forgotten? How had they gotten under the covers?

God, Betty had so many questions.

"Morning?" Jughead asked, yawning and flopping away from her to rub his eyes.

"Ah, it seems so."

"Thank god for automatic alarms," Jughead chuckled. He leaned in, kissing Betty.

"Morning breath," She said, trying to get away.

"Don't care," He replied, kissing her again just to show her. He relaxed in her embrace for a second more before begrudgingly searching for his boxers.

As he left to shower for his work, Betty sat up and looked at the imprint of his body in her sheets.

She knew relationships were living, growing things. This felt like their relationship had just graduated from high school to something bigger. Something more solid.

She traced the pillows where he'd laid down.

God, she was so far gone for Jughead Jones.