It had been a week. Seven days since she had been to see Polly, and absolutely nothing had happened. There had been no clues as to where she'd gone, all anyone knew was that the supposedly merciful Sisters hadn't done a good enough job keeping Polly locked up. Things had been utterly steady; Betty was going to school, working on the paper with Jughead, hanging out with Veronica and Archie, and coming entirely undone inside. When she wasn't thinking about Polly, she was thinking about Jughead. It had been a week since he'd kissed her in her room, and he hadn't done anything since then to even suggest romance. Betty couldn't figure it out. He had seemed confident enough when he did it, so why was he backing off now? It wasn't that things had been weird between them, they hadn't. It was just as if it had never happened, and Betty didn't know why.

Take today for example. The two were in the Blue and Gold office doing some research while Ethel, who had signed on to help with less intensive stories, wrote at her desk. It was around 4 when Ethel finished editing the feature she was writing and sent it over to Betty to put in that week's issue.

"Alright, I'm off then," Ethel said, scooting her chair back and putting on her coat. "Will you guys be out soon or should I lock up?"

"I'll definitely be at this a while longer, thanks though," Betty replied, looking up briefly.

"Same," came Jughead's brief echo. "See ya."

"See you guys."

"Have a nice night Ethel." She left and Betty heard the lock click after her. "I want to find something before I leave but I'm not finding a lot of interest in these histories, are you?"

"Nada. They seem to have written about everything people did that wouldn't have caused family tensions."

Betty wasn't sure what to say next. She continued reading for a while, never fully absorbed in her work, always with half a mind on her friend. It was in moments like this when she found herself distracted and lost for words around Jughead that Betty noticed the difference.

"Hang on, I might have something," Jughead's comment brought Betty back and she was suddenly embarrassed for being so preoccupied with thoughts of him when he clearly wasn't with her. "Come look at this, it's about the Blossom family buying a piece of land in a foreclosure. It seems like it was a bit of a tough process, and apparently it originally belonged to a Lodge."

Betty walked over to Jughead's desk and leaned over his shoulder. She read enough of the article before she smelled his aftershave and got distracted to be able to tell that this could be a lead, but that they would have to do more digging into what happened, and why the Lodges, one of Riverdale's wealthiest families, would have lost property to the bank. But right now Betty wasn't thinking about that, and she certainly wasn't thinking clearly. Maybe that was why when Jughead cracked a joke she didn't quite catch, seeming perfectly at ease this close to her, she simply said "Juggie," her voice low, but not shaking.

Jughead had just turned his head slightly to face her when Betty heard the doorknob turning and looked up, startled, as Ethel walked back into the room.

"Hey, did I leave my phone here?" she asked, thankfully not noticing Betty's blush.

"Oh, um, I don't know, sorry," Betty responded.

"Yes, here it is! Thank god, I tore my house apart, then the coffee shop, before finally realizing it might be here."

"Well I'm glad it is, that's never fun," Betty knew she sounded like a moron, but she was still adjusting to being pulled out of her world.

"Are you guys heading home soon?" Ethel asked. "It's getting kind of late."

"Um, yeah," Betty answered, moving to pack up her things. "I think we can count our new lead as a good day's work. Jug?"

"You go ahead," he replied. "I've got some editing I want to get done here."

"Okay, I guess I'll see you at Archie's tomorrow then?" Betty grabbed her coat and began to follow Ethel back to the door, and Jughead looked up briefly to smile and nod his confirmation at her.

"Yeah, definitely. See you Bets."

Once Jughead was sure the two women had left the school, he went to a cupboard on the still-dormant side of the Blue and Gold office and pulled out his backpack and sleeping bag, setting up camp for the night.