"Who was that?" Jughead asks.

With a small laugh, Betty tucks her phone away. "Kevin," she answers. "He says he has a new endgame."

Jughead stares at her blankly before biting into his burger. "What does that even mean?" he asks, his words slightly muffled by his food.

"It means that he is no longer hoping for Archie and me," she answers. "We're his new endgame. The ship that he's sailing and probably captain of now."

Jughead snorts and pops a fry into his mouth. Betty wonder if he really understands. Sometimes it's easy to forget that he has his own brilliant little world inside his head, and that he cares so little for social norms.

"I know. It's silly," she adds quickly. "There's a murderer out there, and people are still concerned with who's dating who."

He shrugs and sits back in his booth. "Nah. Not silly. The world is dark place right now. Things like this… They aren't supposed to happen in a small town. The all-star football player just doesn't turn up murdered in a place like Riverdale," he says simply. "That's a whole new type of scandal. People need something to keep their minds off of the bad things."

"What keeps yours off it?" she asks.

Really, she already knows the answer. Where writing was once his only escape, she's seen him find comfort in something else. She's grown closer to him in a way she never could have imagined.

"Does it really need saying?" he asks, pressing a fry to her lips.

With a laugh, Betty takes a bite. "No. It's obvious. For someone who likes to mask himself with mystery, you're surprisingly easy to read sometimes," she teases. "But I want to hear it."

"Burgers," he says seriously, pulling away when Betty swats at his arm. "What? Burgers, fries, a nice shake. Perfect way to distract myself from the world falling apart."

"Juggie…"

He smirks. "And there's a certain River Vixen that helps me remember that there's still goodness out there," he adds. "She's brilliant, smart, funny, and she has a smile that could stop wars."

Betty feels her heart flutter. She looks away, staring pointedly out the window. It's embarrassing the way he can make her blush so deeply.

"Cheryl Blossom," he says. "That girl-"

"Jughead!" she laughs, turning to face him.

Jughead shrugs innocently, poking his tongue out at her. "What? You asked a ridiculous question, so I gave you a ridiculous answer."

"I hate you sometimes," she says with a roll of her eyes.

He reaches over, taking her by the hand. "Yeah. I love you, too."