A/N: Finally an update guys! So excited to share the rest of the story (now that it is all planned out) and thank you all so much for your patience and sticking with this story through my very sproadic updates.

I have the next chapter beta'd by the always amazing beta Jandy and need to make a few changes but hoping to have that uploaded within the next few days as well.

Chapter 10: All Error With His Might

"That wasn't how it happened at all, Betts." Jughead's words were still ringing in her ears. It wasn't as though she hadn't replayed the events of that night over and over again in her head; Betty could almost recite his words word for word she was so familiar with them.

His hand was still wrapped around her own and she was all of a sudden very aware of his body heat on the bare skin of her hand. "I was there, Jughead. I remember how it happened." She broke the silence that was wrapped around them. "You didn't want-"

"I did turn you down, Betts, but it wasn't because I didn't want you." Her eyes flashed to meet his. "You have no idea how much I wanted you that night."

"You said-" she started before he interrupted her again.

"I remember what I said. I wanted it to happen, Betts. I just didn't want it to happen like that. I wanted you to trust me. I wanted to be the one whose shoulder you leant on." Betty pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes scrunched together as she tried to piece together her own memories to see how they fit with what he was saying. She had been so full of rage and despair that night, not to mention the alcohol that had been running through her veins.

"That summer I saw you, Betts. I saw the real you. I had always thought you were like the rest of them - an actress so high on her own importance, chasing a schoolgirl crush from high school each year."

"I guess not much has changed then," she mumbled, avoiding his gaze as she pulled herself away from his hold. Giving herself some distance and sitting on the arm of her couch. She felt as though the world was spinning around her. Everything that she had built up in her own mind about that summer, was falling down. She could feel her world slipping out of control again.

"You aren't that girl, Betts. The girl-" He reached for her hand again and she let him take it, she was too dazed to fight back. She felt as if the fight was draining out of her. She had been fighting so hard against allowing herself to sink back into her feelings for him that she was exhausted. "-No," he corrected, "the woman-" There was such a fondness in his tone that it took her by surprise. "-that I saw held herself together when everything else was falling apart. You helped the backstage crew. Not because you were being forced to but because you wanted to. You got to know us. That was special."

She shook her head, needing to somehow process the thoughts and feelings that were now overwhelming her. The need to escape was suffocating. The need to lash out to protect herself was so close to the surface. She had been pushing him away for so long that now that that avenue of escape was no longer available to her she felt lost.

"That day in the coffee shop felt like a dream or a fantasy or something. Betty Cooper asking me out for coffee, and smiling at me, even just looking at me. I couldn't believe my luck."

Betty felt that tug again. That nagging little voice that he was talking about the fantasy, not the real Betty Cooper. It was the one that she aspired to be, not whatever it was she was now. She could only imagine how much of a disappointment she was to him.

"That was the version of me before it all went wrong," she whispered, refusing to look at him.

"No." There was defiance in his voice and she couldn't help but lift her eyes to his. "There is no version of you, Betty. It's all you. And I -" he paused and she realized that she was hanging on every single word. "I wanted to get to know all of you. I wanted to be there for you when you lost your mom. I wanted to be the one that you talked to, the one that would try to make it better."

"I was hurting, Jug."

"I know you were, Betts. That's why I couldn't let anything go any further that night. It wouldn't have been fair. To either of us. I wanted it to be real."

"I thought you saw this messed up -let's face it- crazy person and didn't want that part of me. That you were scared. That I scared you away."

"I was scared for you Betts. When I found out you hadn't even told Kevin about your mom, I knew something was wrong." She saw the guilt in his eyes as it all was starting to make sense.

"Wait." She began to put it all together.

When she got back to her apartment, she found Polly waiting for her with Kevin by her side. Polly moved to look at her hands grasping her wrist and examining the deep cuts that she hadn't even bothered to bandage instead letting them bleed and weep. Polly started crying for a second Betty thought how her sister never could have dealt with looking after their mother if this made her cry. Kevin moved toward her and she instinctively backed away. She felt like a cornered animal, and felt the need to lash out. She didn't want them to touch her. She didn't want any of them. Once Kevin wrapped his arms around her, Betty knew they were expecting her to feel something - Polly with her head in her hands on the couch sobbing and Kevin holding her tightly – but instead she just pressed her nails into the skin of her palms once more, letting the pain wash over her body like a calming gentle wave.

"Why didn't you tell us Betty? We could have helped." Polly's sorrowful voice cut through her. Help? What could Polly have done that she couldn't have? Polly didn't have the resolve to face what Betty had had to and come out the other side. She turned to face her sister, knowing that her lips was turned up in snarl, a hint of teeth.

"Really Polly?" she spat out her sister's name and couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction that washed over her as her sister flinched at her name. "You could have helped?" Betty let out a mocking laugh, shaking her head in derision as her hand flew up to her mouth. Her sister had been everything that Betty had ever aspired to be. Betty's whole life spent in vain trying to make Alice Cooper look at her the way she had at her older sister even after all of Polly's many mistakes. She was never going to be good enough. "You? The one who left when it got hard with your picture perfect husband and your perfect children? You couldn't have survived it. You couldn't have dealt with seeing her that way- seeing her shrink before your eyes, becoming a shell of the person she used to be. You couldn't do it so I had to."

Polly approached her again, tears staining her face and Betty could hear her mumbled sorrys and should haves. They didn't mean anything, they didn't change what had happened. The words were not for her benefit they were for her sister's to ease her own guilt. To absolve her.

"Betty, we have spoken to the hospital." Kevin's voice was always so gentle and soothing. Even now when she hated the world and everything in it, it still brought her that little bit of peace. "They are going to admit you."

Betty started to shake her head, murmuring to herself. No, she couldn't go. She still had to organize the funeral and the memorial and decide what to do with her mom's body.

"I can't go Kevin, I have arrangements. I can't leave it." Her voice was pleading as if it was actually Kevin's decision to make. If she could just convince him that everything was okay, then maybe it was. She could hold it together still.

"We will take care of it, Princess." She let him embrace her again as his hand moved softly over her loose ponytail. "It's going to be okay," he whispered into her hair. And she wanted so much to believe him.

"You told Kevin." She was staring at him as it all slotted together in her mind. The week after her mom's death was a blur in her memory. She could only recall snippets and pieces, confident that her mind had remembered all that it needed to and spared her the rest.

"I had to, Betts. You left me no choice. If you weren't going to let me help you." Jughead's eyes searched her own as he spoke.

"I just assumed the hospital had called Polly. I never thought that you-" She pulled away from him and began to pace around the small space of her apartment.

"I couldn't watch on as you did that to yourself." He glanced at her palms and she moved them behind her back in defense. "I thought maybe after you got some help that maybe-"

She cut him off. "You never came looking for me. You never even spoke to me when I came back." Her voice was accusing. She could already feel herself becoming more defensive as the need to protect herself rose within.

"I figured after that night -after the things you said- that maybe you didn't want to see me and that if you did you would come and find me," he answered, softly. "When you didn't, I couldn't face seeing you again at the play that year."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that?" Her thoughts were still moving faster than she could decipher, when his hands reached for hers and she stilled her nervous movement when he pulled her toward him once more.

"Well, I like to think, Betts, that despite everything we were friends and that maybe we could be friends again." She could see the hopefulness in his eyes, the way he traced her inside wrist with his thumb. It was a gentle soothing movement that she wanted to lose herself in. She knew then that he was offering her an 'out'. Jughead was offering her the space to sort out her emotions and she wondered if he needed that space too in light of their revelations.

She remembered how they had been before her mother had died and she had begun her downward spiral and placed that distance between them. She wondered at the prospect of allowing him in only to break her heart again.

"For the sake of the play," he continued, with a nudge to her side, the corner of his mouth tugging up in a smile. Betty rolled her eyes and found herself sharing the same smile.

He didn't mention the date again and neither did she. For now they were happy to just be as they were.

On Monday, the late afternoon found them again at the old theatre under the careful watch of their director. Moose was sat next to him as Kevin had brought him along to help him with direction where he could. Betty suspected that there was an entirely different reason as to why Moose was at the rehearsal but she was happy for them and didn't say anything.

It was all starting to come together, much, she imagined, to Kevin's relief. The community college group had integrated seamlessly into their backstage roles under the watchful eye of Dilton and Jughead. Ethel has also stepped up into the role that Jughead would usually take and seemed to be flourishing under her new responsibility.

Some things hadn't changed though, as Cheryl continued to swan about as if she owned the company- although with the amount of money that the Blossom family's maple syrup business pumped into this town she probably did. Chuck continued to give Betty looks that made her skin crawl and once again she thanked the powers that be that they didn't share any scenes together.

Betty had found Jughead waiting near her dressing table with a caramel vanilla frappuccino in his hand. He held it out to her as she put her bag down.

"Your favourite," he said with a smile as he handed her the cup. Their fingers brushed up against each other's only briefly but it was enough to make a blush began to crawl up the back of Betty's neck and she diverted her gaze in an effort to distract herself.

They had parted on good terms that night in her apartment. He had pulled her into a quick hug as he had left and Betty had let him hold her for a second longer than necessary as she relished in how natural it felt to have his arms wrapped around her once again. It was a feeling that was too strong to bury so she let herself enjoy the moment however brief it was. She was still unsure of what they were but it was better than before the play had started and maybe it could be better still.

Once Jughead had left, she had called Polly. She had apologized for calling so late before the tears overtook her and they talked. Really talked. For the first time since Polly had left Riverdale, even on the long drive to the hospital or back home from the treatment centre they had never 'talked'. Betty had apologized for how she had acted and Polly had done the same. It was cathartic and the first steps toward some real healing between the sisters. She had Jughead to thank for that.

During their rehearsal, Betty and Jughead had continued to play well off one another. His deliberate touches as he attempted to woo her, or rather as Demetrius- under the influence of the love potion- wooed Helena, continued to make her skin tingle and her skin blush. His words of scorn no longer held the same power as they once did. They began to take on the humour of the play. No longer a deliberate attack against her but a comedy of errors. It was how she remembered the play she'd loved so much to be. Kevin seemed to enjoy the change in their approach as well. Praising them both on their performances before he directed his attention towards Archie and Veronica. Jughead shot Betty a wink and squeezed her hand and her smile became broader as she felt as though she was under some kind of spell herself.

Jughead sat next to her as they watched the rest of the scene play out in front of them, grateful for some time away from the stage. She was glad that he had pulled himself away from his usual spot at the back of the audience seats. His own self-imposed solitude. She heard him chuckle softly as Reggie and Chuck played out their lines and she was glad that he enjoyed watching as much as she did. Betty enjoyed all parts of the play and had to admit that Kevin had truly outdone himself this time. The play was perfectly cast, perfectly directed and she could feel herself already becoming more and more excited for their opening night.

She glanced towards where Archie was sitting with Veronica and found that his eyes were trained on her as she jolted in her seat. She was still deliberating in her own mind what to do about the 'Archie situation'. It had been what she had wanted for so long- a date with the 'popular' guy. The perfect match. But the revelation of her past with Jughead and what his true feelings could be, that there was the possibility of a future between them- It had her doubting everything she'd thought she wanted. Not wanting to think about it again, Betty pushed it to the back of her mind and smiled at Archie before she shifted her attention back to the performance on stage.

"Are you going to go tonight?" Betty stilled at the sound of Jughead's voice. She knew that he was going to ask. She continued to stare at herself in the mirror of the locker she had been assigned at the start of the rehearsals. Looking at her reflection as if it would hold the answers for her. She shut the locker to find him looking at her from the other side. "I don't know. I mean things are different now, aren't they?"

"I think you should go," he said as she looked at him with an arched brow. "If only to close the chapter on this part of your life."

"I don't want you to think-"

"What, that I might be a 'second choice'?" he scoffed and gave her a wink. "Please. Archie doesn't stand a chance."