A/N: I do not own Riverdale.

She wasn't exactly sure when it had happened, her pulling away from her friendship with Archie. Or rather, she knew when it happened and why. What she didn't know was why no one had really noticed it except for her. Of course, everyone saw the aftermath of the back to school formal. That was public and brutal and left two broken hearts in its wake.

After everything happened with Miss Grundy, Betty began to close herself off from Archie. "She believed in me when no one else did!" His words echoed in her ears for days following that outburst.

"You had me!" she wanted to shout at him. But she didn't. Because of course, everyone knew that Betty Cooper always put Archie Andrews' feelings before her own. Sometimes she thought maybe she should have said it out loud. Would he have been surprised at her use of the past tense? She certainly liked to think he would have. She also liked to imagine he would have apologized and wrapped her in one of his amazingly warm, affectionate Archie hugs.

But that had only been a fantasy, and Betty pulled herself away from Archie in a way he should have noticed. He didn't. Sure, she was still friendly with him, and anyone outside the two would hardly have noticed a difference.

Betty noticed, if only subconsciously at first.

There were no more friendly touches between the two of them anymore. No hugs. No arm slung across the back of their favorite booth at Pop's. No teasing punches after crappy jokes, and definitely no casual hand-holding while walking home and talking. In fact, without even realizing it, Betty had shied away from being in too close proximity to Archie. Instead of sitting on the same bench as him at the Chock'Lit Shoppe, she now sat across the table from him, and in the school cafeteria she always put at least a seat in between them.

It was a defense mechanism, sure, but Betty thought she was doing okay.

And then, out of the blue, Jughead Jones happened to her. They had their moment and afterwards, everything in her life changed again.

Finally, someone in her life who cared enough to be there as her whole family fell apart. As the news broke of Polly being pregnant with Jason Blossom's baby (babies, as they would later discover) and who not only accepted her dark side, but understood it. And she could spend time around Archie again without her heart aching so bad it nearly brought tears to her eyes.

Of course, there were issues, but what relationship didn't have them?

Betty and Jughead were far from perfect, despite his rant about her being the perfect girl next doorat the birthday party he didn't want, but they worked. And he loved her. He'd told her so, and she felt so happy she thought she might burst. That was that, and she knew then that she would be losing it to Jughead Jones.

Then, only minutes later, a knock at the door of KP's trailer altered the course of what should have been a perfect evening. Even as she watched Jughead slide that black leather jacket emblazoned with a green serpent across the back, she could feel something like barbed wire creep itself around her heart in protection.

Honestly, she knew it was hypocritical of her, especially after the article she wrote defending the Serpents. She didn't want Jughead to follow this path, but she knew he probably wouldn't listen to anything she said if his mind was already made up. The Serpent who had handed him the jacket had promised a family, and God knew how Jughead wanted a family. As an added bonus, his new school was on the Southside, much closer to the Serpents.

He looked fabulously sexy in leather, but Betty knew she would have to be careful with her heart once again.

All she wanted to do was call Archie and beg him to talk some sense into Jughead, or even just talk to her about everything. Somehow, he had always made her thoughts make sense, even when they didn't to her. She longed to call him and be surrounded with the comforting presence of the boy (man now?) who had been her best friend since she was four. She didn't do that, though, if only because she saw the look Veronica had given him before Betty and Jug split off from their group of four to be alone. Ronnie probably wouldn't appreciate any interruptions right about now, and she had a nagging feeling, neither would Archie.

She did the only other thing she could think of.

She closed the door she had been peering through to watch Jughead with the Serpents. She put her clothing back on properly and gathered any other of her belongings, and she unlocked her phone and pulled up the one contact that she knew would always have her back no matter what. Sitting on KP's couch, Betty waited while the phone rang and rang until the person on the other line answered.

"It's me," she said. "I'm with Juggy at KP's. Can you please come get me?"

After getting an affirmative answer, she waited on the couch for Jughead to come inside. He finally did ten minutes later, still wearing the jacket he had been given on the porch. "Betty…" he started, making no move to come any closer to her than where he was leaning against the door.

But she didn't let him finish. "It's okay, Juggy." Her phone beeped to let her know that her ride was waiting for her. She stood from her sitting position and walked to where Jug still stood motionless, taking his hand and pulling him to her. Instantly, his arms wrapped themselves around her waist and she lay her head on his chest.

"I love you," he murmured against her hair. Betty felt her eyes well up as she nodded her head. Then she stepped back out of the warmth of his arms.

"I just need some time." She could see the tightening of hurt around his eyes at her statement, but he let her walk around him and open the door. He followed her down the steps, startling at the sight of a familiar vehicle parked in the front.

"Betty," he pleaded, "I need you to see this from my perspective. Those guys are giving me a family. I need that more than anything right now, with my dad locked up and my mom not really wanting me." His eyes begged her to understand, which she did. But how could he not think about what his new "family" was going to cost?

This time Betty shook her head in disbelief. "I thought we were your family, Jug." She turned to the passenger door of the car and opened it, stepping one foot inside, but still staring her boyfriend in the eyes. "Couldn't you see that?" Then she sat fully in the car and closed the door. They waited a moment for Jughead to finally stop staring at them before he finally turned to go back inside the trailer.

"Are you okay, Betty?"

She blinked away tears and shook her head once. "Please just drive, Kevin."

In the dim porch light before the door to the trailer shut tight behind him, Betty could have sworn the green snake on the back of Jughead's jacket smirked at her.