"Come on, Betty. Pick up," Jughead mumbled to himself as he dialed Betty's phone number for the third time.

After Betty had left Mr. Blossom's room, Jughead made the decision to give her some space, which now he was severely regretting. He had searched the entire house, at least what was left of it, but to no avail. She was nowhere to be found. Normally, he would have just assumed she had went home, but with what was happening in town, it was hard to assume anything.

Jughead felt the cool air brush past him as he stood in front of the Blossom's house. Loud music blared in the background. Just as it had the last two times, Betty's phone went to straight to voicemail. And in all the time Jughead knew her, Betty never left her phone off.

"Shit," he said under his breath, barely noticing the pair of footsteps that echoed on the pavement close by.

"Jughead?" A voice called.

He looked over. It was Archie and Veronica, both empty handed.

"Any luck?" Archie asked as he approached.

Jughead shook his head.

"I wish we could say differently," Veronica said. "We didn't find anything either."

"Where's Betty?" Archie asked, noticing the uneasy expression on Jughead's face.

"I don't know," Jughead began. "I've been calling her, but it's going straight to voicemail. With anybody else I wouldn't think twice, but the thing is, Betty never leaves her phone off."

Archie frowned, contemplating the situation.

"Maybe her phone ran out of battery?" Veronica asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Jughead said. "But this is Betty we're talking about. She wouldn't leave the house with a phone with low battery."

An air of silence settled in the group as they thought to themselves.

"Did something happen, Jughead? She couldn't have gotten far, I mean, you were both in the same room, right?" Archie asked hesitantly, even though he already could guess what Jughead's answer would be.

"We got into a fight," Jughead explained. "She left the room and I gave her a few minutes, but now after searching the whole house, or I guess what's left of it, I can't find her."

"So the last time you saw her was in the Blossom's room?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah… I've been trying to think of where she would be. Her house is a safe bet, but I don't know how she ended up getting a ride," Jughead said.

"And she had to have gotten a ride by someone," Archie added, then paused. "Do you remember the night that somebody got into the school and broke Betty's computer?"

"Yeah," Jughead said, looking down and nodding. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought, trying to understand what point Archie was getting at.

"Well, that night she said she went to work on the Blue and Gold to clear her head. And you just said that you got into a fight…," Archie said.

"So she could be at the school," Jughead finished the sentence. He let out a breath, relieved that he could at least start looking there.

"Let's look there," Archie said.

"What about her house? For all she know, she could be at home, safe and sound," Veronica said.

"We could try there, too," Jughead replied. "But I think we should check the school first. If she's at home, we won't have anything to worry about."

"I have my car, and Archie has his. While you two are checking the school, I could check her house. It'll be faster if I end up finding her at home anyways. I'll call you if I find her, and then you guys won't have to drive all the way to the school," Veronica said.

"Sounds like a reasonable plan to me," Jughead said.

"Are you sure you're okay going alone?" Archie asked Veronica as he put his hand on her shoulder.

Veronica smiled.

"Concerned boyfriend looks good on you, Arch," Veronica said, backing away and holding up her car keys. "But I'll be fine. It's just a few blocks away. You and Jughead go do your thing."

Archie nodded.

"Okay," he said. "But if you find her call me as soon as you can."

"Got it," Veronica said with a smile as she opened her car door.

XXX

Betty stared at the computer, her eyes taking in the brightness of the screen. Impulsively, she felt her nails gravitate towards her palm. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the pain distract her.

"Keep writing," the man who wasn't her brother warned.

Even though she knew it was a risky move, Betty rolled her eyes.

"Writing these articles takes time. I can't just come up with something in a matter of hours."

"Then we're gonna be here for a while," he said.

Betty unclenched her fist, letting the pain radiate out of her hand. She brought her hands up to the keyboard and typed, adding on to the few sentences that she had written. She needed to do something. She couldn't just sit here and stall him forever. No matter how much time she bought for herself, it wouldn't mean anything if she didn't use it wisely.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Betty suddenly stood up. The gun slid from her shoulder to her arm, and with a quick movement, she elbowed it, sending it flying out of the man's hand. She lunged to the side, hoping she could get her hands on it, but felt a strong force push her backwards. Her body slammed against the file cabinets and she let out a cry as she dropped to the ground. She barely focused on the man, who had retrieved the gun and was now pointing it at her. Pain radiated throughout her body.

The man approached with heavy footsteps and harshly yanked her arm up to the point where she was standing. Stumbling back towards the desk, she sat down.

She could feel the gun pressed against her shoulder and the the man's voice right by her ear.

"Don't ever do that again."

XXX

Archie and Jughead made their way to their car in silence.

After putting the keys into the ignition, Archie sighed and paused. Jughead watched and expectantly waited for him to say something.

"Look, I'm only asking this because Betty's my best friend. I just want to know what made her so upset," Archie said as his eyes met Jughead's.

"I just… have some reservations about her brother. I don't trust Chic Cooper. So many things about him are suspicious," Jughead said.

"I don't really know him," Archie said, checking the road behind him as he put the car in reverse. "But I will agree that the timing is a little weird."

"I should have just shut my mouth," Jughead said.

Archie kept his eyes focused on the road.

"Maybe," Archie said. "But at least you were honest."

Jughead nodded, but through the miles he and Archie were driving, he couldn't ignore the regret he felt.

"There's another car, but it's not Betty's," Archie said as they made their way into the school parking lot. "It's ten thirty. What's anybody doing here so late?"

Jughead's eyes widened.

"Archie," he began. "That's Chic's car."

Archie narrowed his eyes.

"That's strange," he said. "Maybe he gave her a ride here?"

"I don't know," Jughead said, determined. "Let's find out."

After navigating the halls as quickly as they could, Jughead and Archie both made their way to the door of the Blue and Gold. Archie looked over at Jughead, nodding.

Jughead let out a breath as he twisted the doorknob, pulling the door open.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I wanted to mention that I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks. It won't affect my schedule for posting these chapters, as I'm definitely going to make it a priority to keep posting every week. However, some chapters might be on the shorter side, like this one. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.