Betty shivered and folded her arms over her chest as the cool night air brushed past her. The slight hum of the car engine did little to mask the silence that took over the situation.
"Betty, what's going on?" Jughead asked in a low tone, willing her to make eye contact with him. "Do you know this guy?"
Struggling to meet his eyes, Betty opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She kept her eyes trained on her brother and heard the car door unlock.
"Do you both need a ride?" Chic asked, not even bothering to address Betty's previous question.
"Not until you tell me why you're here. How did you even know I was here?" Betty demanded.
Jughead could feel Betty trembling next to him. Whether it was from being cold, angry, or afraid, he couldn't tell.
"Look," Chic began, "Earlier today, you said you were going to your friend Veronica's house. It didn't take me long to figure out that you meant Veronica Lodge. Betty, do you know how dangerous her father is?"
"I know who Hiram Lodge is," Betty replied quietly. "Did you follow me here?"
"No of course not," Chic said. "I wouldn't do that. I knew where the Lodge's lived because it's common knowledge in this town. All I had to do was ask the first person I saw."
"Betty…," Jughead tried.
She looked back at him, preparing to speak, but was cut off by Chic.
"I know this looks weird. But all I wanted to do was make sure you got out of that house okay. And you did. So I'll leave right now if you want, but it seems like you both need a ride and I'd be happy to give you one if you want," Chic offered.
"We aren't getting in anybody's car until I know who you are," Jughead said.
Chic's eyes met Betty's for a second before making their way over to Jughead.
"She didn't tell you?" Chic asked.
Jughead shook his head.
"I'm her brother."
XXX
"I should have told you," Betty said as she made her way to the porch, sitting down on the top step. She had been wanting to say that the whole miserable car ride to her house, but she couldn't will herself to speak, especially in the deafening silence that filled the car.
"You should have," Jughead admitted. He understood that it was her family business, but at the same time he didn't know how he felt about her brother. Something about the whole situation was off. It seemed to him like the situation was a lot more complicated than Betty knew. "How long have you been talking to him?"
"I don't know, a few weeks I guess," Betty replied as Jughead took a seat next to her on the porch steps.
"How did he even make contact with you? He clearly doesn't live in Riverdale…"
"He called me."
"Just out of the blue?" Jughead asked.
"Yeah," Betty nodded. "But what else was he supposed to do?"
"I don't know, maybe make contact with your parents and arrange to meet them," Jughead said. "Do your parents even know?"
"Not yet," Betty said. "He said that he would tell them when he feels ready."
Jughead furrowed his eyebrows.
"What?" Betty asked, taking notice of his facial expression.
Jughead met her eyes, with hesitation etched on his face. He didn't want to upset Betty.
"I just… I feel like maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do," Jughead said. "How well do you really know him?"
"Not well at all, Jughead. I just met him," Betty said, frustrated. "What are you trying to say?"
"Don't you think that it's strange that out of all the times he could show up, he shows up now?" Jughead asked.
"I doubt that means anything," Betty said. "That's just a coincidence. He doesn't even live here."
"He hasn't even told your parents yet that he's here, even though he's been apparently secretly been in contact with you for several weeks," Jughead argued.
Betty shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"I told you he's not ready to tell them yet," she said. "They willingly gave him up. He doesn't know if they'll even want to see him."
"Okay," Jughead conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. He didn't want this argument to turn into a fight. "I'm probably wrong."
Betty was relieved to hear this from Jughead, but when she glanced over at him, something about his expression told her that he wasn't totally convinced.
"Maybe you should really tell your parents, though," Jughead said, standing up when he saw his foster mom pull into the Cooper's driveway. "They're going to find out eventually."
As Jughead walked towards the car, Betty thought about what he had told her. Of course she knew her parents would find out about Chic, but was it really smart of her to tell them? What if they have a bad reaction and try to get him to leave town? But it all did seem a little strange to her. She understood that maybe he needed some time before he would confront her parents, but the fact that she was the only one in her family who knew about him filled her with uneasiness.
Betty shook her head and started towards the front door of her house, still contemplating what she wanted to do.
"Mom?" Betty called out as she closed the front door behind her.
"Just me," Polly answered as she emerged from the living room.
Her tired eyes and disheveled hair were a clear sign that she had been sleeping.
"Polly," Betty smiled as she took of her coat. "Were you just asleep?"
"Yeah. These two are really making me tired," she grinned as she placed a gentle hand on her growing stomach.
Betty's eyes lit up at the mention of her twins, but later her face returned to its troubled expression that she had been wearing when she had first walked in the door.
"Is everything okay?" Polly asked when she took notice.
"Yeah," Betty replied a little too enthusiastically. Luckily for her, Polly didn't suspect anything.
"Okay," Polly nodded.
"Hey, do you know where mom is?" Betty asked as she hung her coat up in the closet.
"She's upstairs in her room I think."
"Okay," Betty said as she headed for the stairs. "Thanks Poll."
She made her way to her mom's room and opened the door to see her mom sitting at her desk, hunched over her laptop, most likely taking care of some last minute work. Her mom barely looked up as Betty entered the room.
"Hi mom," Betty said, taking a seat on the edge of her king-sized bed.
"Hey honey," her mom said as she continued to type furiously. "How did dinner go?"
"It went well," she replied. The only reason her mom had let her go to the dinner is because Betty had assured her that it would just be her, Archie, Jughead, and Veronica. If she had even made mention of Hiram being there, she would have never let her go. "I have to ask you something."
Betty could barely see her mother's slight nod as she continued typing, seemingly too preoccupied to even look at her.
"When was the last time you heard from your son?" Betty asked, almost regretting the words as they came out of her mouth.
Immediately the slight tapping of the keyboard halted, and Alice turned to Betty, her expression completely neutral.
"What's this about?" She asked as Betty nervously fidgeted with her hands.
"I'm just wondering," Betty lied. "You just told me about Chic. I wanted to know if you had ever talked to him."
Alice's eyes widened at Betty's statement.
"Has he contacted you?"
"What, no," Betty stammered. "What makes you think that?"
"Because you called him 'Chic'," her eyes narrowed and her tone grew sharp. "The name I gave him before giving him up for adoption."
Betty opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She was immediately filled with regret. She never should have brought this up.
"How long have you been talking to him?"
Her mother's tone seemed clipped and short, but nevertheless she was much more calm than Betty had expected. She kept her hands calmly folded in her lap and looked Betty straight in the eyes when she was talking to her. It was strange.
"A week or two, I guess," Betty replied.
Alice nodded her head and joined Betty, sitting next to her on the bed.
"Listen to me," she urged, taking Betty's hand. There was something strange mixed in with her tone. Was it desperation? Anger? Fear? It was hard to tell. "You cannot tell your father about this."
Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading. Feel free to share any suggestions, questions, or comments that you have. Get ready for the next few chapters!