Author's Note:

Why am I feeling so inspired by episode thirteen of Riverdale? I was shocked at how much potential they gave Barchie. I always knew they were going to be way more complicated than dealing with the feelings for a few episodes and then ditching it. To everyone who ever thought Bughead would be lasting forever, you thought so wrong.

Maybe they won't rise immediately, but I know they will be endgame. Kevin Keller said it so long ago and I know that he said it for a reason, other than Betty being a close friend of his. Veronica also said that Archie's story with Betty was far from over. And that means something, even if it's a lot different than the way it was said in.

So enjoy this fanfiction, dedicated to all of those who love Barchie as much as I do and are still hanging on to the moment where Archie lets go and tells Betty that he loves her.

Her group of friends were heading for her in the cafeteria, something that brought a smile to her lips. They were all in a line, Veronica standing next to Jughead, surprisingly, and Archie on the Jones' other side.

Her boyfriend, Jughead, smiled at her brightly, sitting right next to her and leaning in to whisper something sweet in her ear. She bit her lip and blushed something awful, something that didn't go unnoticed by the redhead that sat across from him. Lately, he'd been doing a lot of staring at them and a lot less talking. It was something she knew she should talk to him about, at least see if he was okay, or if there was something he was thinking about and they were always just the thing in front of him.

But it was the way that he stared at her that threw her off. It wasn't like it had been in the diner, not quite what it had been at the dance; it was a mix of what it had been when they had knocked into each other on the football field and she had reached her hand up to touch his eye. She wasn't the best at reading everyone, but she knew Archie had that look on his face for a reason, whether he told her that reason or not. She shook her head and made a point to refocus on what was happening now rather than what they would talk about later.

Even though she said she was okay with it, the moment Veronica's hand moved onto Archie's arm, Betty felt a soft pang of jealousy. The kind where she had accepted that he would never feel that way about her but she wanted him to; she knew it wouldn't be easy to get over him. Not because he had this blossom over the summer from an awkward boy to a man, but because she'd fallen for him when he was just the boy. Just the boy with as many freckles as there were stars in the sky and about as lanky as the world could create for one human being. She had fallen for him the second he'd asked her to marry him, in second grade, his warm hands in hers and hazel eyes as shy as himself. He was a galaxy that burned bright, despite his appearance to others, and that's why she had fallen for him.

She turned her attention back to Jughead, smiling at him and taking a few fries off of his plate as she felt his arm wrap around her. It didn't go unnoticed that Veronica tried to get Archie to do the same thing, only to be met with a confused stare and a shrug. The brown orbs flickered to her, and Betty bit the inside of her cheek, her eyebrows pulling together. 'Ask him later,' she mouthed.

The rest of lunch had been a quiet affair, the pairs standing up to leave in one group. Jughead turned towards her, his hand moving to her cheek and making her blush at the attentiveness of his touch. He caressed her cheek softly, his thumb brushing over her skin like one of those warm, soft throws that adored her mother's sofa. It was kind, unlike how he seemed to be with most people.

Behind him, she could see Ronnie's rushed conversation with Archie, like she was becoming increasingly impatient with him, though he hadn't done anything that the blonde would say was outright wrong. Sure, he never seemed to pay attention when it was important, his gaze always seemed to be far away, but did that really count as a strike against him? She wondered how she would feel about it if it was her own boyfriend doing it, yet she couldn't help but think that the only reason that Jughead would be so cold towards her would be a loss of interest.

Betty flickered her green eyes back to Juggy. He opened his mouth, his tongue flicking out to wet his lip slightly before the words began to spill out of his mouth. "Betty, I love-" he began, only to give a soft sound of surprise and vanishing from her vision. He'd almost toppled to the floor in surprise, only looking up to the source in wonder.

And just like so many dreams from the moment when she'd confessed that she loved Juggy too, he was replaced with a much stronger figure, with red hair and a scar between the eyebrows. Archie.

He was breathing hard and from what she could tell, sweating slightly. It didn't make sense to her, showed when her own eyebrows pulled together and she had parted her lips to question him.

And it was in the moment that she parted her lips that he leaned forward, claiming her lips with his own, his hands moving to her cheeks in a way that said he wanted the moment to last. Unfortunately for her best friend, for her boyfriend, it did last.

Her lips had parted to feel his hot breath against her bottom lip and a soft intake of air before they were attached again. It wasn't a quick kiss, not like it had been all those years ago, in the hall and outside of their second grade teacher's classroom. It was the kind that proved something much stronger than she'd ever felt, the kind that her first kiss should have felt like.

For as many now hidden freckles, there had been a comet, and she'd kissed all of them, even though she knew it was just Archie.

But it wasn't just Archie. It was her Archie, the same Archie that she'd been so confident that would feel the same about her and she'd been so wrong about.

So she pulled away and opened her eyes, her eyes on his lips before they flickered up to the hazel pools that had just met her sea green ones. From what she could see, there wasn't a reason to do it. He didn't have lust in his gaze, but there was something. She could almost swear she'd seen that expression on herself before, but she didn't want to think of a time where she looked at him like that. "Arch-"

"I just needed to do it. Just once." He was trembling but she couldn't understand why. She was the one who was caught off guard. "And I'm not sorry. I should be but you and I both know that I'm not." He leaned in, his face only centimeters away from hers, something that gave her more anxiety than her mother on an angry rampage. She wanted to tell him that Jughead was right there, that he shouldn't be just standing there, saying all that he was with his best friend right there.

"Don't," she whispered. Betty knew what was next and she just wanted those last moments of bliss, where she could just take the prize that Archie had kissed her and she wouldn't have her friends at war, again. She wanted those last few seconds where she could feel completely happy with Jughead, rather than feeling like he was the person she wanted because she couldn't have who she wanted to begin with. Her hand moved to his touch his mouth, her fingertips only touching the bottom lip; it was almost like touching a flame that she wanted to get burned by. "Don't say it."

"I won't." His hands moved to take her hands in his, something that Ronnie had confided in her that she had been dying for him to do for so long, something that meant her and the raven haired girl would be at odds like they were last year, his thumbs running over her knuckles quickly, affectionately. "But I'll say it someday; when you're ready to hear it, Betty Cooper."

Words that would give her hope and take it from another; what dangerous words those would be.