Trigger warning: Mentions of suicide attempt.

Three years later.

Betty Cooper was up in the middle of the night for the fourth night in a row. Sleep hadn't been her ally over the course of three years, always eluding her when she needed it most. Sighing, she took a sip of her tea, hoping to calm her mind. It wasn't like she never slept, however. Towards sunrise, she would fall asleep for just the right amount of time to be able to be considered a functioning human and that was good enough for her.

Her mind cast back to that night. The night everything changed. The night her innocence was stripped away from her completely. She had thought witnessing Hal Cooper's death would have done that when Penelope murdered him, but no, it was when she turned out to be capable of a crime so heinous, she couldn't even look herself in the mirror, never mind if it was self-defense.

Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye, bringing her out of her reverie, and she looked down at her right arm. In the faint light from the lamp, she could see the long, singular scar on her wrist. Remembering that night, she inhaled shakily as she took another sip of her tea.

She had ran a bath, taking the kitchen knife and placing it on the edge of it. After sitting down in the bathtub, she looked at the knife for a moment, before scrolling through her contacts, landing on a familiar name. Pressing the call button, she held the phone to her ear, willing the person to pick up.

It rang three times before the other person answered.

"Betty?" The surprise in Archie Andrews's voice was understandable; after all, it had been at least two and a half years since they talked.

Inhaling shakily, she began speaking.

"Hey Arch," she murmured, tears in her throat.

"Betty, what is it? What's wrong? Are you alright?" Archie demanded, and Betty wanted to laugh because no, she wasn't alright. She hadn't been since the start of her Junior year.

"Arch, I know it was my idea to go our separate ways after…that night, and I don't regret that. What I would regret however, was if it I didn't call you to tell you how much you meant to me before I never have the chance to do so again," Betty said quietly, fingers idly playing with the handle of the knife.

"What do you mean, "before you never have the chance to do so again", Betty?" Archie asked in confusion. His tone was laced with an edge of panic. "You're not about to do something stupid, are you?"

Ignoring his question, she felt the first tear slip through. "Can you tell Ronnie that I love her, too? I had a feeling you two might have stayed in contact. I love you, Arch. I'm sorry."

"Betty stop, we can fix this -," Betty cut him off by hanging up. Not hesitating any longer than she had to, she placed the knife against her wrist and cut.

Eyes on her scar, Betty didn't remember much from the phone call she had made to Archie to the moment she woke up in the hospital. Archie was sitting right next to her bed, and she noticed the fact that her good wrist had been restrained to the bed rail. After many confusing questions and tears, Archie had explained how he had managed to call 9-1-1 and explain what was happening. They had managed to be able to track the number he had given them and gotten officers out to her apartment in the city before irreversible damage could be done.

It was a whirlwind of movement after that. She had been checked into a facility that would monitor her mental health and help her get back on her feet. After spending two weeks there, she was deemed safe again and released. Archie had offered for him and Veronica to come live with her, (she had been right in her assumption that they still talked), but she told him that wasn't necessary. All she really wanted was a chance to heal in private.

XXX

It was going on four in the morning by the time she had drained the last of her tea. Standing up from the couch she had been resting on, she went to the kitchen to go clean out her cup, her mother's voice in the back of her head.

Alice Cooper and hers' relationship had changed drastically after that day Chic Cooper showed up on her front porch. Her older brother was an FBI agent and her mother was an informant for them, helping to end the Farm. Once she had found that out, Betty had been petrified for her mother's safety, not knowing if or when she'd ever be able to see her again. Then, she ran away before she had the chance to tell her she loved her.

Running to the city that never sleeps seemed like the perfect idea. A city that big could easily hide her. Not wanting to lose touch with her mom completely, Betty had sent her a total of six cards over the course of the past three years, one for Christmas and one for her birthday. She had never signed them, but she liked to think her mother knew it was her. At any rate, she trusted her enough to not come looking for her.

Just then, there was a soft knock on her door that had Betty pausing and looking up from her kitchen sink. Who the hell would be at her apartment at three-thirty in the morning? Not sure if she should ignore it in the hopes that whoever it was would go away, Betty's phone pinged with a text.

Open up Juliet, it's me.

Staring at the five words, Betty felt her hands began to shake as her world slipped out from underneath her. It was too much to hope for this; too much to not be excited only for her dreams to crush. She sat down on the floor, waiting it out until the knocking stopped. But it never did. It continued.

Eventually, she got up, and made her way to the door. Peeking out of the eyehole, she felt her heart in her throat as she slowly opened it, revealing the man she hadn't seen in three years.

"Jug?" Betty whispered.

"Hey there, Juliet."

Author's note: Enjoy and thank you so much for the lovely reviews! Also, I'll explain what happened with the Ghoulie and what Veronica and Archie had been up to in the three years since the core four have been together in due course. Xxx