Cheryl Blossom is the first in their year to turn eighteen. She spends the day showing off her pretty white card, gold embossed with her name, and under it, Antoinette Topaz. The two of them had gone to the soulmate office first thing in the morning and opened the envelope together, hand in hand.
"I always knew Toni was my soulmate," Cheryl brags to no one in particular. Anyone in the common room who will listen. Betty tries not to, but Cheryl has a loud voice. "From the first moment we met."
Betty is pretty sure that's a lie, but who is she to rain on Cheryl's parade? Betty looks up from her book. Cheryl and Toni look happy. Who wouldn't be, after having the fates confirm that the person they're with is their soulmate?
"They're lucky, aren't they?" Archie says, noticing her gaze. She looks to him.
"It's not luck," Betty says. "It's fate. We all meet the right person eventually."
"Maybe we already have," Archie says. Betty's eyes flick to Veronica, sitting by Cheryl, getting all the gossip. Betty isn't entirely convinced that Archie and Veronica are soulmates, but she's not about to tell him that.
Cheryl's voice carries across the room. "When we kiss it's not like kissing just anyone. It's like… sparks fly. Every single time."
Betty's gaze shifts again when Jughead walks into the common room.
"We have," she says firmly.
"I guess we'll all find out in a few months," Archie shrugs.
Jughead is the first of the four of them to turn eighteen. Betty knows better by now than to try and make a big deal out of it, so the two of them just go to Pop's together and then go back to Betty's to watch a movie on the couch. Jughead hasn't mentioned anything about soulmates all day, so Betty hasn't brought it up either.
They sit in silence for a moment after the movie ends, before Jughead speaks.
"You haven't asked me if I found out who my soulmate is."
"I figured if you wanted to talk about it you would," Betty shrugs. "So, did you find out?"
Jughead shakes his head. "I don't need some glorified piece of paper telling me who my soulmate is. I know it's you."
Betty smiles, and Jughead gives her a soft kiss.
"But if you want to get the proof when you turn eighteen, I won't mind," he clarifies.
Betty shakes her head quickly. "We don't need that. I know it's you too."
And for a moment, she really believes it.
When Veronica turns eighteen, she throws a huge party at the Pembrooke. Hermione agrees to vacate the building for the night, and the place is occupied solely by drunk seventeen and eighteen-year-olds playing music too loudly and doing things they'll probably regret later.
Betty only has one drink, and even that goes to her head far too quickly. Thankfully she's staying at Veronica's tonight and doesn't have to try and convince her mom she stayed sober the whole night.
There's no talk of soulmates, not from Veronica or from Archie, and for some reason Betty can't bring herself to ask. But the two of them dance together and she sees them kissing at one point, so she supposes everything must be alright.
It's two in the morning when Hermione finally gets back and makes everyone leave. Betty falls into bed beside Veronica, her eyes already falling shut. But Veronica is in the mood for a heart to heart.
"Thanks for staying over," Veronica whispers.
"I think I'm supposed to thank you for letting me stay, not the other way around," Betty murmurs.
Veronica doesn't seem to hear her. "I went to the soulmate office today."
Betty is suddenly wide awake.
"I had this whole thing planned where I was going to get my soulmate envelope and open it at the party in front of everyone."
"And?"
"And it had already been picked up. My soulmate got there first."
Betty stays silent, processing. She feels sad for Veronica, in a way. Sure, it's always a possibility that your soulmate gets the card before you do. (Though Betty has never been able to figure out why there can only be one). But she feels like Veronica is missing out on an important rite of passage.
"It's no big deal, obviously," Veronica continues. "When only one person can get the name, it's bound to happen a lot. I guess I'll just have to wait for him to find me. And it means—"
"Archie's not your soulmate," Betty finishes. She's not surprised. But she does feel oddly… relieved.
"Yeah," Veronica sighs. "We kind of always suspected we weren't soulmates, but it's different knowing."
"Are you going to break up?"
Veronica snorts. "No, of course not."
That surprises Betty. What's the point in being with someone you know isn't your soulmate? Veronica seems to sense Betty's question without her having to ask it.
"It could be years before I meet my real soulmate. I still love Archie. Why ruin a good thing on something that might not happen until I'm old and grey?"
Betty supposes she's right. But it still doesn't sit right with her. In a few months Archie will find out who his soulmate is, assuming his other part hasn't already retrieved the information. What then? She wonders if this is really what Archie wants, or if he's just doing it to keep Veronica happy.
"Are you still adamant that you and Jughead aren't going to find out if you're really soulmates?" Veronica asks.
"We are. We don't need to find out," Betty says.
"So then it can't hurt to pick up the card. Frame it or something."
The truth is, she does want that. Only moments ago she'd been lamenting that Veronica had missed out, and she realises she doesn't want the same thing to happen to her.
"We'll frame out marriage certificate," Betty says. She doesn't ask herself why she's so dead set against having the soulmate card.
Veronica is silent for a moment. "Whatever you say, Betty," she says, and her doubt latches onto Betty's heart and gives a tiny squeeze.
Betty is hesitant to bring it up with Archie, so she's glad when he does it himself. They're studying on Betty's bed, as they've been doing all year. Archie is desperate to get good marks on his exams, and he claims he can't do it without Betty's help.
"Did Veronica tell you she and I aren't soulmates?" he says. Betty wonders how long he's been wanting to bring it up.
"She did," Betty says carefully, putting down her pink highlighter. "Are you okay?"
Archie sighs. "Yeah." He lies down, putting his head on Betty's pillow. Betty watches him, chewing her lip, waiting for him to continue. "On some level we always knew we probably weren't soulmates. We even talked about it."
"That's… good?"
Archie smiles. "I think it is a good thing."
Betty smiles back, amused, glad he's okay.
"It's your birthday in a few weeks," he says. He glances down. Clears his throat. Fidgets with his pen. "Are you going to—"
"No," Betty cuts him off. "Jughead and I decided we don't want to find out."
Archie nods. He licks his lips. He glances up at her. Her heart races when their eyes lock. "If you're sure."
"I'm sure." She's not.
"No offence but I don't envy you. Meeting your soulmate in high school? Who wants that?" he snorts.
"I think it's romantic," Betty says, poking her tongue out at him. Archie smiles at her fondly. Then he ducks his head and returns to his school work like the conversation never happened.
Betty gets up early on her birthday. Too early. It's barely light out, her mom still fast asleep. Her hearts pounds and her stomach churns as she quickly dresses and heads out of the house.
She doesn't know why she's keeping it a secret. Jughead has made it perfectly clear that if he doesn't mind if she wants to find out for sure if he's really her soulmate. But she still feels like she's doing something wrong.
The building is just a white building, but Betty can't help but feel there is something otherworldly about it. Like it kind of gives off a soft glow. There's a building like this in every town with a population over ten thousand people. Riverdale's soulmate office is small, and it isn't really located near anything else, which suits Betty just fine. She takes a deep breath and walks inside through the automatic doors.
She's never been in here before. Everything inside is white as well, and Betty feels like she's entered limbo, and she's waiting for her fate to be decided. She supposes in a way she is.
A woman in glasses looks up from a computer, sitting behind a bright white desk that comes almost up to Betty's shoulders. Betty looks down at the woman.
"How can I help?" the woman smiles, her voice sweet and tinkling. Betty is pretty sure this place isn't really part of the human world.
"I turned eighteen today," Betty says. "I'd like to find out who my soulmate is."
"Okay," the woman nods. "Just step through those doors and someone will be with you in a moment."
Betty's eyes follow the woman's pointed finger to a white door to her left. Betty swallows and walks towards it, pushing it open and stepping into another white room. She had been expecting something of a doctor's office, she supposes, but it's just a bare white room with a stool in the middle. Betty perches herself on the stool and waits.
Moments later, a woman in a white dress enters the room. A different woman from before. The woman smiles brightly.
"Congratulations on turning eighteen," the woman says. "So, you're ready to find out who your soulmate is?"
Betty nods.
"Okay," the woman says. "What we're going to do is we're just going to prick your finger to take a tiny sample of your blood to determine exactly who you are. Then I'll go and put it into the system. We'll wait a few minutes, and then your card will be ready!"
"Okay," Betty says nervously.
"But just be warned, that in half of cases, there is no result," the woman says. "This doesn't mean you don't have a soulmate! It just means your soulmate has already claimed your card. So you'll just have to wait for them to find you. Romantic, right?"
"I guess."
"Are you ready?"
Betty nods.
Betty doesn't open the envelope right away. She carries it home and puts it under her pillow. Then she decides better of it and puts it into her schoolbag. Can't risk her mom coming in her and finding it.
It weighs on her mind all day. She can barely concentrate in class, or on any conversation. Her friends give her gifts, but she barely registers what they are. Veronica brings her a fancy cake she had made especially. Betty can barely eat two bites. She feels sick. Her thoughts rest only on the envelope and what it might contain. It could easily be Jughead. He hasn't been to the soulmate office. But it might not be him either.
She races home after school, not bothering to wait for Archie. She slams her door close and tugs the envelope out of her schoolbag. She holds the blank white envelope in her hands. She swears it feels hot, like the card could burn through the envelope at any moment.
She holds her breath, and pulls the card out, tossing the envelope away. She turns the card over and her stomach flips as she reads what it says in gold cursive.
Elizabeth Cooper
Archibald Andrews
She stares at it, like it somehow might change before her eyes. It doesn't. She clutches the card to her chest. She can't breathe. This is the last thing any of them wanted, right? Betty wants to be with Jughead. Jughead wants to be with Betty. Archie doesn't want to meet his soulmate in high school.
Soulmate. Betty swallows. She shuts her eyes, her head spinning. Archie is her soulmate. It's somehow a shock and not a shock at the same time. It's everything she wanted when she was fourteen years old. It's everything that could derail her plans now.
But no one has to know. No one saw her go to the soulmate office, and she has told no one. She'll just hide the card and pretend it never happened. She grabs a book from her shelf, one she hasn't read in years, and tucks the card between the pages. She replaces the book on the shelf and takes a deep breath. Nothing has changed. Nothing is different than if she had never seen the card.
Betty's heart skitters when she sees Archie waiting for her outside the next morning. She reminds herself nothing has changed.
"Hey," he grins. Her heart skitters again. "Where'd you run off to yesterday?"
Betty tries to formulate some sort of response. Why are her hands sweating so badly?
Archie's eyes widen. "Did you go to the soulmate office?"
"No!" Betty says quickly.
"Okay," Archie says. "Sorry. We were all going to go to Pop's to celebrate your birthday but you took off so fast after school."
"Sorry," Betty says. "I guess I just didn't feel like celebrating."
"It's okay," Archie nudges her arm with his softly. "We'll make you celebrate tonight instead."
The thing is, Betty had completely convinced herself she was over Archie. It's like somehow, as soon as Jughead entered the picture, she was able to completely switch those feelings off. Only, she's beginning to realise they were never totally turned off. It's like the pilot light was still burning all this time, just waiting for something to catch, and that goddamn card has set her stupid heart on fire, reigniting old feelings.
And it's not like she doesn't still love Jughead. But her feelings for Archie are something else entirely.
"I heard," Veronica says coyly, as she and Betty walk into a dress shop on a Saturday morning, "that sex with your soulmate is supposed to be mind-blowing. Even just kissing them is supposed to be better than just kissing a normal person."
Betty fingers a blue dress tilting her head, considering. Their senior prom is in a few weeks, and Veronica has been wanting to take Betty dress shopping for months. Veronica herself is getting a dress custom made, of course, but she wants to help Betty find the perfect dress. Betty is glad of the distraction. Anything to get her mind off Archie.
"Sex with Archie is pretty great, so if it's automatically better with your soulmate then I can't wait to see what's in store for me," Veronica continues.
"But what if your soulmate just kind of sucks in bed?" Betty asks.
"I refuse to believe the universe would want me to be with someone who quote sucks in bed," Veronica rolls her eyes. "If I'm being honest, I envy whoever Archie's soulmate is. Like, imagine the best sex you've ever had, and then multiply that by whatever magic connection you have with your soulmate. Like—out of this world fantastic sex. That's what's in store for Archie's soulmate."
Betty just about chokes on thin air.
"Oh wait, you've only ever had sex with Jughead," Veronica muses. "Multiply it by even more then."
Betty huffs, annoyed. "Jughead is great in bed."
"Soulmate good?" Veronica presses.
It's not like Betty has anything to compare it to. And she's not lying when she says Jughead is great in bed. But definitely not soulmate good. She knows this because of the simple fact that he is not her soulmate. If they'd had this conversation before she knew? She probably still would have known it wasn't soulmate good.
The only other person Betty has even kissed, is, well… Archie. And yeah, maybe kissing him in that car that one night rocked her to her core. Maybe his lips felt like they were pulsing electricity through her body. Maybe she's always kind of known she and Archie were soulmates, even if for a while there she denied it to herself.
"Yes," Betty says adamantly. She thinks Veronica believes her.
It's Archie's birthday a week later. He makes Betty come to the soulmate office with him. She goes, even though she knows there's nothing there for him.
If the woman at the front counter recognises her, she doesn't show it. Betty waits in the foyer as Archie nervously walks into the other room. He comes out ten minutes later looking disappointed.
"Well?" Betty says, keeping up her charade.
"Nothing," he says. "I guess my soulmate already has it," he shrugs.
"Oh," Betty nods. "That's disappointing."
"It's okay," Archie says, putting on a smile. "I guess it will be more of a mystery this way."
Archie and Veronica break up two days later. They both tell Betty it was mutual.
"We decided to end things, seeing as we could meet our soulmates at any moment," Veronica tells Betty, a complete turn around from what she'd said a few months ago.
"We just don't see the point in being with someone who isn't your soulmate," is what Archie says, and that's how Betty knows the break up was his idea.
She doesn't know how to feel about it. He's single and he's her soulmate. How could anyone, even Veronica and Jughead, judge her for wanting to act on that?
And yet, she knows he won't want to know. He doesn't want her to be his soulmate. He wants to believe in the mystery of it all. He doesn't want his soulmate to be some girl he's known since he was four years old.
And Jughead still believes he and Betty are soulmates, and she has said nothing to prove him wrong.
She reminds herself again that nothing has changed.
It's date night for her and Jughead, which involves snuggling on the couch in FP's trailer while they watch a horror movie. FP is at the Cooper's, and Betty prefers not to think about what he and Alice might be doing. Betty has no idea if Alice and FP are soulmates. Betty had asked Alice once if she and Hal were soulmates. Betty was six at the time, and Alice had simply said, of course, now let's not talk about this again. Now she's pretty sure her mom had been lying. But then, maybe she wasn't. Things don't always work out, even for people who are supposedly meant to be together. Fate can bring two people together, but it can't make them stay.
"Betty," Jughead croaks, startling her in the middle of a tense and quiet moment in the movie. Betty presses pause and turns to him. "I have a confession to make."
"What is it?" she asks, worried.
"I went to the soulmate office today."
Betty's heart sinks. He knows.
"Were not—" he cuts himself off. He shakes his head. He reaches over to the coffee table and picks up an envelope that Betty hadn't noticed until this moment. "We're not soulmates," he says, handing her the envelope. She knows, of course, but she opens the envelope anyway, curiosity getting the better of her.
Forsythe Jones III
Rachel French
"Rachel French," Betty reads aloud. "Do you know a Rachel French?"
Jughead shakes his head. "I'm sorry," he says. "I know we said we wouldn't find out. But I guess I just had this niggling feeling."
"Me too," Betty admits. "Do you wish you hadn't looked?"
Jughead shakes his head. "It's better this way. I love you, Betty, and I think we could have been happy together for a long time. But we would have always wondered if it was meant to be. It would have driven both of us crazy."
"So…" Betty swallows. "This is it then?"
Jughead nods. "Yeah, I mean—don't you want to find out who your soulmate is?"
"I—" Betty swallows. "I kind of already did," she admits.
"You didn't tell me?" Jughead frowns. "Why?"
Betty shakes her head. "I couldn't."
Realisation crosses Jughead's face as it dawns on him. "Archie," he guesses.
"Yeah," Betty nods. She feels as though she might cry. "Please don't tell him."
Jughead hesitates. "I won't. But you should."
"So, now that you know you and Jughead aren't soulmates, are you going to find out who yours is?" Veronica asks, putting the finishing touches on her make up. It's prom night and the two girls are getting ready together in Betty's room. Betty can tell Veronica has been wanting to bring up this topic ever since Betty told her that she and Jughead broke up.
"You don't have to look so smug about it."
"I'm sorry. It's just—I kind of knew it."
"Shut up."
"I'll go with you if you want."
"No."
"But what if it's someone at school! You could dance with them tonight at the prom!"
"I don't want to."
"I don't get it. You love romantic things. Why won't you find out?"
"Veronica, please," Betty begs.
"Come on, Betty! Do you really want to go the rest of your life not knowing?"
"I already know!" Betty snaps, tired of the pestering. "It's Archie, okay?"
When Betty finally brings herself to look at Veronica, she sees her friend looking positively gleeful. Not what Betty had been expecting.
"Archie?" Veronica says wistfully. "Well, isn't that what you've always wanted?"
"Yes," Betty admits. "But it's not what he wants."
"You haven't told him."
"Obviously not."
"You should give him the chance to actually decide if that's what he wants or not."
"He'll feel obliged to be with me. It would ruin everything."
"Betty—" Veronica starts, but she's interrupted by a knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in!" Betty calls. Anything to stop this line of conversation.
Archie opens the door and steps into the room. He looks dashing in his rented tux, holding a small box with what appears to be a corsage in it. He stares for a moment before clearing his throat.
"You look nice," he says. "You too, Ronnie."
"Thank you, Archiekins!" Veronica beams. "Is Jughead here?"
"Downstairs."
Veronica leaves the room, giving Betty a pointed look. The door closes behind her and the room is filled with a charged silence. Betty fiddles with her earrings, not sure where to look. Not at him. He looks too good. Her eyes fall on the box he's holding.
"Is that a corsage?" Betty asks.
"Oh," Archie looks down at the box. "Yeah. It's for you. Sorry if it's dumb." He blushes, and goddamn it if Betty isn't totally in love with him.
"It's not dumb," she assures him. She holds out her arm and Archie takes the corsage out of the box with some struggle, and slips it onto her wrist. Her skin burns where his thumb grazes her arm. The pink flowers complement her dress perfectly. Archie drops her hand hurriedly and steps back, tripping over what seems to be his own feet, and crashing into the shelf behind him, sending the contents flying all over the floor.
"Sorry," Archie says as he crouches down to pick up the things that had fallen off the shelf. "I don't know why I'm so clumsy."
"It's okay," Betty laughs, getting down on her knees to help him. If she didn't know better she'd think he was nervous.
"Oh shit, I think I lost your bookmark," Archie says. Betty looks up and sees him holding a book, and a said bookmark which appears to have come loose from the pages. Something that is not a bookmark at all. Betty's heart skips a beat.
"Archie—" she says, but he's already turning the card over. Her heart pounds in her chest as he stares at the card.
"What is this?" he asks, swallowing. He's trying to process what he's seeing. "Elizabeth Cooper and Archibald Andrews," he reads. "Is this— is this real?" he looks at Betty. She's sure her face is bright red. She tries to say something, to explain, but she can't speak.
Archie looks at her, the corners of his eyes creased with hurt. "Say something," he says, like a plea.
"I'm sorry," she finally manages. Archie just looks more hurt.
"How could you not tell me?"
"I thought it would be better this way," Betty says. "Easier."
"Because of Jughead? Veronica?" he asks, trying desperately to understand.
"No—I don't know. They already know."
"So you were just going to leave me in the dark? Let me wait for my soulmate forever?" Archie accuses. Betty gapes at him. She hadn't thought about it like that. She'd only been thinking of the foreseeable future, not like, forever.
"Archie—" she reaches forward to comfort him, but he pulls away. Betty's stomach jerks sickeningly. What has she done? Archie stands up. He looks like he's about to say something else, but then he thinks better of it. He heads for the door and doesn't look back.
"Archie, wait!" Betty calls after him. She follows him out of the room, but by the time she reaches the top of the stairs he's already slamming the front door behind him. Jughead and Veronica stand at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her, concerned expressions on their faces.
"What happened?" Veronica asks. "Did you tell him?"
Betty shakes her head. "He found the card."
"I told you to tell him," Jughead shakes his head. Veronica gives him a disapproving look. She looks back to Betty.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Go after him."
Betty's feet don't want to move. She knows she has to explain. She knows she fucked up, but the truth is, his reaction at seeing the card hurt her too. He hadn't exactly been happy to find out she's his soulmate. Even for a moment, before he figured out she'd lied. So yeah, she shouldn't have lied to him. But in her defence, it was for self-preservation.
Somehow her feet carry her down the stairs and next door. He's not there, though she hadn't really expected he would be. She goes to the next most obvious place: Pop's.
He's there sitting in the booth furthest from the door, his head in his hands. His hair is all messed up like he's been running his hands through it in agitation.
Betty approaches the booth, her heart in her throat. Her fingers rest gently on the table.
"Can I sit here?"
Archie looks up, startled, and yet he doesn't seem surprised to see her. He nods, though he seems guarded. Betty notices the white card with their names on it on the table in front of him.
"I'm sorry," they blurt out in unison.
"You're sorry?" Betty repeats.
"Yeah, I kind of—freaked out, I guess. I shouldn't have run off like that. But I knew you'd find me here."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Betty says.
"It's fine, Betty," he sighs. Then he seems to reconsider. "I mean, it's not fine. You should have told me. But it is what it is. I get it," he shrugs, defeated.
"You do?"
"Yeah," he nods. "It hurts, but I get it. You wanted your soulmate to be Jughead, or—someone else, I don't know. You were disappointed."
"Archie, I wasn't disappointed," Betty hastens to tell him.
"Betty. It's fine, I swear," Archie smiles sadly. "It's just—I wanted my soulmate to be you."
It doesn't dawn on her until that moment, the real reason he's upset. He thinks she doesn't want to be with him. She feels like a huge weight has been lifted off her chest, and she lets out a light-hearted laugh. Archie frowns.
"But, Archie," she smiles at him, "it is me."
Archie still has an adorably confused look on his face. Betty wishes these tables weren't so wide so she could easily lean across and kiss him. Instead she settles for reaching her hand over and slipping it into his. The simple act gets her heart racing.
"I hid the card because I thought you didn't want to be with me. You said you didn't want to meet your soulmate in high school."
"Oh," Archie swallows, dragging his eyes from their hands to Betty's eyes. "That was a lie. You were right. It is romantic."
His thumb grazes her knuckles. Her heart pounds. She has no idea what happens next. She's not sure the whole thing has sunk in yet. They're soulmates. They're meant to be together. They have a little piece of card with their names on it to prove it.
"Take me to prom?" Betty says. She has no idea why she still feels nervous.
"Yeah," Archie nods. He seems kind of nervous too. "Of course."
He doesn't let go of her hand as they get up and walk out of Pop's and into the mild air of the night.
"So you really don't mind that you met your soulmate in high school?" Betty says.
"I didn't meet my soulmate in high school," Archie says, and Betty realises he's right. "Betty, I've known you almost my whole life. And now we get to spend the rest of our lives together. Not everyone gets that."
Betty feels herself welling up, and she hastens to wipe away the tears forming in her eyes. She really has no reason to be crying.
"Hey," Archie says softly, stopping in his tracks. "Are you okay?"
Betty nods. "I'm just really happy."
Archie grins. "Me too."
"Kiss me, Archie," Betty commands him, and Archie obeys. And goddamn if it isn't the best kiss she's ever had. That kiss sets her whole body alight, and her soul too. Sometimes the universe just gets things right.