"You're a disgrace." "You let your mind go to mush." "I won't have a daughter in my house who ruins my reputation." "Knocked up, unmarried, and single." "This is the last straw Betty." Those words were screamed at Betty or muttered in harsh tones. She had fell into a whirlwind weekend romance. Not bothering to think about timing or consequences. Now she was dealing with it. She sound have known her conservative catholic family would send her off for her inexcusable behavior. Betty imagined she be sent away, the baby given away, then they'd bring her back home. Instead, they were sending her 2,000 miles to be married to a man she never met. Her mother didn't tell her anything about the place she was going or what the man she would marry was like. All Betty knew was she was never welcomed back here again.

Betty felt a tear roll off her face dropping onto the ground, it was so silent in the airport that she could hear it hit the ground. Her family stood in front of her, her niece stood hugging her legs while her sister Polly hugged her. Betty cried into the hug and looked over to her mother, Alice. Her face hard as a rock, unphased by the emotional scene. Betty face scrunched, her heart hardened the longer she stayed looking at her mother.

Betty pulled away from Polly as she felt her niece, Megan, tugging at her dress. "Auntie Betty? I got you a present." The little girl explained taking a pink heart shaped balloon from her father Jason's hand. "So you remember me." Betty heart broke throwing herself onto the ground to hug her. "I love it very much, Megan. I promise I will never ever forget you, I love you way too much for that!" Megan smiled hugging tight to Betty, "I love you Auntie Betty."

"I love you too, Megan." She whispered into her ear and pulled away from the hug, standing up. Betty quickly wiped her tear away. "Goodbye." She announced to her family. Polly was a puddle of years, Jason, Polly's husband, held his arm around her shoulders. Betty forgo a hug with Polly not wanting her to cry more. Betty simply turned away and rolled her suitcase onto the plane, not looking back. Headed to her new life leaving the one she was forbidden from behind.

Betty passed the grey walls leading into the plane. This was it. Her life is going to change, forever. Maybe her life would change to the color of the walls, locked up in a farmhouse, in a loveless marriage. Her mother made it very clear what she has to do. She has to marry a man she has never met, raise her baby with him, and act like this was her choice. She has to be a good proper wife for the man who agreed to take her and her unborn child under his wing. Something no man should have to deal with as her mother had put it. But in reality she did not know what awaits her, maybe things would turn out okay. Maybe, she thought in the back of her head, she would fall in love. He could be sweet and loving. Or the man could be a horrible man. He could be mean, violent, a drinker, he could even be a criminal. She knew that her life was a gigantic question mark, and she knew she wouldn't know what her husband would be like until she was there.

The blonde girl shook her head trying to shake away her worries before entering the plane. She walked down a long aisle till she reached her seat. She smiled, realising she got the window seat. At least she will be able to take one last look at her hometown, and her life as she knew it, before flying into her new life. ''Good bye.'' She said quietly, her hand gracing the window as if she was touching her house, her family, and her life once last time. A tear escaped her eye while her home started to disappear and soon started to look like just another dot of land, miles and miles beneath her.

For the remainder of the five hour flight Betty stared at the seat in front of her or stuck her nose in her book. A voice crackled over the speakers making Betty looked up from the book she was reading. The voice above her informed the passengers that they would be landing soon. She sighed, her heart pumping in her chest, excitement and nervousness making her dizzy.

She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath as the plane started to shake and rumble. They were landing which was the worst part, she hated landing. The quick descent made her feel as if she was crashing. She gripped the seat beneath her, her knuckles turning white. Thankfully, it was soon over and before she knew it she was being escorted off with the other passengers. The exited the same way the came, except when the entered the light of the airport, it was wasn't the Californian airport but rather a small MInnesota airport.

As soon as she got a hold of her luggage, she saw a man in a black suit holding a sign with her name on it. She walked up to him with a small smile. ''Miss Cooper?'' He verified.

She nodded, her hands shaky as he took her bags from her. The pink balloon had been tied to one of the suitcases. ''Right this way.'' He motioned for her to follow him to a taxi outside of the airport. They sat in silence until that came to a spot in a small town, it was quiet in the center of a valley. A brown wooden sign read "Lanesboro, Minnesota Est. 1868".

In California, you could find a hint of yesteryear still lingering there. A old payphone sitting on a street light, an old cold sign, but here, the whole town screamed yesterday. The buildings, which include a post office, a library, a general store, and a mechanic were old and rundown.

The signs were antique, the street brown instead of black, a whole sense of safety.

''Excuse me, sir.. I thought you're supposed to take me to The Maple Valley farm.'' Betty asked as she saw that the cab pulled up in front of a church.

''No, Miss. Cooper. I was instructed to bring you here.'' He told her, pointing to a blonde lady who walked quickly towards them.

''Betty!'' The woman greeted the confused girl, wrapping her in a tight hug.

''Hello, miss...?'' Betty trailed off next knowing her name, her figure stumbling back from the sheer force of the hug.

''Oh i'm Mrs. Tate! Me and Pop own the Chock' lit shoppe." He paused with a grin, "Now come on Jughead is waiting for you! The ceremony will start any moment.'' She told her, leading her towards the church. "Oh boy we are just so happy you are here for Jughead." Ceremony? Her mother really had wasted no time in taking care of Betty's situation. "But little did we know he had went off and met a girl right under our noses!" She explained with a grin. Betty breathed a sigh of relief as Mrs. Tate ushered Betty inside and through the chapel doors, he hadn't told anyone just why she was here. She was suddenly thankful for that.

The whole church stopped and turned to look at Betty. There were six people in all, including herself and Mrs. Tate. A preacher, and a woman whom she presumed was his wife. A older black man who looked like he had just left a kitchen. And then to her left, stood a young man about her age, a crown beanie sat upon his head. A small black curl fell to his forehead, as he looked to her. Her breathing slowed as they looked upon each other. His lip curled up into a half smile, his hands resting in his suit's pants pocket.

Mrs. Tate took notice that Betty stood frozen at the start of the aisleway and rush to her side, grabbing her hand and pulling her up to the alter. "Come on Betty meet your husband." Betty flushed as she came face to face to the man she was to marry, a twinkle settling into his eyes.

"Hi, Jughead Jones." He whispered as if he was only talking to her. She nodded with a smile, Betty Jones, that would be her name. Her baby would bear that name, at least it was better than Mantle. "I'm Betty Cooper." After a brief exchanges of awkward smiles, the preacher cleared his throat and began his ceremony. Betty's own thoughts kept out the words the preacher spewed up his mouth as if he was reading a memorized script.

"Do you Forsythe Pendleton Jones III, take Elizabeth Cooper as your lawfully wedded wife?" Betty looked to Jughead, "Forsythe?" She asked the man who just introduced himself as Jughead. He rolled his eyes, "Jughead." He repeated with a clench of his teeth. "I do." Betty giggled to herself as the preacher repeating the same sentence to her, "I do." The preacher didn't bother with the whole kiss the bride part, fully knowing their situation.

Jughead quickly placed his hand on the small of her back leading her quietly out of the chapel. "Sorry we can't stay, I'd like to get my wife home." He added a wink for good measure making Betty shiver in anticipation. Would he really make her sleep with him on her first night? And in her condition?

Jughead opened the car door for her and place her luggage in the cab of his truck, the pink balloon floating above the suitcases. The truck was a rusted blue, additions of metal on the outside of the truck. Once Jughead slid into the car and pulled on his seatbelt, he turned to Betty. "I didn't mean what I said, about wanting to get you home." He sighed, making betty's heart sink a bit. Yes, she was scared of him expecting her to sleep with him so soon, but a part of her wanted him to want her. As he saw her expression he tried again, clearly not knowing how to explain himself, "I know you wanted to get away from all those strangers, so I had to make an excuse." He clarified as he shifted his car into gear and started to drive. Betty nodded in understanding, "They don't know?"

Jughead let out a sigh that almost sounded like a chuckle, "No." He knew this was awful enough for her, coming to a new town miles from home to a husband who she didn't know. He wouldn't make things any worse by telling the whole town she was pregnant and they were marrying each other out of convenience. The town already thought he was strange, endearing, but strange, he wouldn't add this story to the mix. They could pretend they were in love in public, and when at home, well he supposed they would live their separate lives.

"So you like balloons?" He asked looking in the rearview mirror at the rose colored balloon. Betty let out a small chuckle, "My niece gave it to me, a goodbye gift of sorts." She said trying to hold back tears. Jughead in nodded knowing he shouldn't press her.

A few minutes later, Betty pulled her head up from the fist it rested on. "What is like on the farm?"

"Quiet unless the cows are mooing at the moon." He said softly. Betty shoot a confused look at him, "They're not wolves." He smiled slightly and glanced at her, "My cows are weird." Betty laughed shaking her head. "I don't believe you." She stated calmly signaling that conversation was over.

The hills rolled by them, fields filled with corn and cows. Betty took in the surroundings as the time they travelled became longer and longer.

"What's California like?" Jughead asked trying to stifle the silence around them.

"Nothing like this." Betty shook her head thinking not the beaches and city shops that lined Berkeley. Jughead nodded at her answer and let the silence overtake them again.

Jughead pulled up to the farm after forty minutes rolled by. "Here we are." He muttered shifting the car to park. He quickly hopped out of the car retrieving the suitcases from the cab.

A beautiful dog ran up to greet them. Her coat shimmered of brown, tan, and red. Betty smiled down at the pet and ran a hand over her fur. "Hi there." The dog's eyes stared at her, one brown and blue, the Native American's would have called the dog a spirit dog. Betty wondered if this area was once Native American and who those people were. She decided she would research it sometime maybe ask Jughead if he knew.

"That's Dakota." Jughead informed her motioning to the dog she had kneeled down to talk to. Betty stood up from the dog and reached to pick up her bags. Jughead shook his head, "I got it." Betty sighed whispering a thank you as she followed him to the door, Dakota in tow.

"Welcome Home." Jughead smiled as he opened the door allowing her inside before he went in himself. The house was quite roomy inside, its style was rustic and homey. The walls white with a wood bottom half. There was a kitchen to her right and a living room with a fireplace to her left. Stairs that led upstairs in front of her. Jughead started up the steps with her bags. She took it as a sign to follow him and made her way up the steps. He led her into a small room to their right, the walls a warm tan color. The bed was large with an antique white headboard. Two small lamps sat on the drawers on either side of the bed. One worn silver pitcher sat on the right bedstand white wild flowers filling it. Betty smiled walking over to the vase and taking a small sniff of the flowers.

"They're from the fields, I thought you might like a feminine touch." Jughead explained as he sat her suitcases onto the hardwood floor. Betty smiled at him saying thank you without saying a word. Jughead stood facing her as he awkwardly shuffled his feet.

"I'll let you get settled. If you need anything my room is down the hall." Jughead explained before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Betty scoffed to herself, she didn't know what was worse, having a husband who forced you, or a husband you didn't want you at all. Her husband was going to keep her in a separate room so he would never have to touch her. She wasn't sure whether she should feel dismissed or relieved.

Betty was quick to put away her things and crawl into bed. Her favorite nightgown was thrown onto her body cascading down her body. The clock had only read 7:30pm but Betty was exhausted. She curled up into a ball, sending a quick text to Polly informing her she had arrived safely before putting her phone on the charger.

It felt like forever until Betty fell asleep. Every time she felt serenity in her head, enough to lure her to sleep, the sobs began to rake her body. She was alone with a man who couldn't bring himself to touch her or even speak to her.

A few hours after their arrival, Jughead decided to check on Betty. He found Dakota laying in front of her closed door. Dakota wasn't big on strangers mainly because she rarely met any. She knew everyone who visited the farm. It was a small town and an even smaller band of people who cared enough to set foot on Maple Valley Farm. It became clear to Jughead why Dakota was attached to her already as he leaned his ear on the door. Faint sounds of cries echoing through the door. He sighed knowing she wouldn't allow him to comfort her. Dakota began to whine looking up to Jughead as if pleading to let him in.

Jughead nodded, "Alright girl go on." He whispered cracking the door slightly. Dakota immediately pushed the door open and hopped on the bed placing her head on Betty's hip. Betty sniffed as she looked Dakota's way, a small sound of a smile escaping her lips.

Jughead smiled at the sight before him. Betty had rolled over to hug Dakota who was lying still in front of her. She had Dakota in a full embrace, Betty as the big spoon, Dakota the little spoon. Jughead smiled as the silence overtook the house, no more sobs.

Jughead walked to his own room wondering if one day his beautiful wife might love him. If they would ever have a real marriage. One with a shared bed, stolen kisses, and babies of his own. Thoughts of his wife of convenience consumed him until fell asleep in his empty bed.