Jughead is upset about not knowing what is going on with Archie. He is upset about making decisions about his Serpents. Betty is there to comfort and talk to him. This is between tonight's episode, Season 3.

"Jughead?" I hear at the bedroom door. It's Betty. But honestly, I don't want to talk to anyone. I just want to be alone. I want to sit at the end of the world with my feet over the edge and watch the sunrise. I want to be so alone that nothing and no one in the world can find me. But I know I am not going to get that luxury.

"Juggie?" she asks.

I want to melt at the sound of her perfect voice calling to me. I go to the door and open it with the washcloth still on my forehead. I keep my hand on my forehead as I stare at her, not even mustering enough energy to smile.

"What's wrong?" she asks right away, knowing that something is. I don't want to talk about it. instead, I lay back on the bed and stare up at the ceiling. Betty closes the door behind her and sits down beside me, putting her hand on my chest and playing with my hair under my beanie.

"Why don't we take this off?" she asks with a small smile. I feel a familiar comforting sensation I haven't felt in a long time.

I nod to her. she takes off my hat and sets it on the table beside us. My head is throbbing with stress and pain. I take her hand and put it to the side of my face, letting her comfort me in whatever way she desires.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

I realize that I haven't spoken since she came in here. I am so tired of being the one in charge all the time. I like leading my people. But I never thought that I was going to hurt this much, make these many bad decisions and have to sacrifice my normalcy.

"I want to be their leader. I want to do right by them but they keep choosing the wrong thing. They make bad decisions. It's hard to lead the Serpents when they turn to crime and hate," I say. I lean back on the pillows. Betty leans toward me, putting her hand in my hair and grazing her perfect fingers through it. it soothes me in a very small way. But it is a small enough comfort that I am able to remember that we will get back to normal one day if we work hard enough.

"We will. We can do right by them," she says. "You just have to let me help you. Don't make all the decisions without your queen and I can learn to make them with you. We can help each other, Jug. We don't have to rule alone."

She is right. I don't want to rule alone. I want her to help me. I want her to make decisions for me so that I don't have to hold all of these burdens and responsibilities by myself. If she can do that, maybe we can make the right decision together.

"Talk to me," she says.

She's right.

"I'm scared that I'm losing them, Betty. That I am losing the people that I swore to protect. Cheryl is being a complete bitch and not at all reasonable. I never wanted her in the Serpents but she was a huge asset."

"Alright," she says with a shrug, as if she is thinking. I want her to solve this for me. My head is throbbing again. "I think we should give her the option of coming back in. tell her no more stealing or breaking the law. Go the clean way or she's out for good. Give her a chance to make up what she did."

"And for the others?" I ask.

"The same."

"What do you suggest?" I ask, leaning onto my elbows. She drops the arm from my hair and rests her hands on my chest.

"We need to know what's going on from the inside, right?" she asks with a grin, almost as if she is getting one of those amazingly famous Betty Cooper ideas that seem to solve the world's problems, if only for a moment.

"Yeah," I say as I try to follow her along with her idea.

"Fangs really wants back in. He is a good guy with some bad problems and decisions. He needs our help. We can't turn our backs on him. So we should give him a chance to prove himself and get back on our good side."

"Yeah," I say. "But how?"

"We need an inside man. We want to know what Hiram is doing with that gang of his. So I say we tell Fangs that he has to join the gang, pretend to be in it for real and then report back to us," she says. "That solves a lot of problems with one solution."

She is smiling as if she has had a great idea. She's right. We should make them help us. I am not sure how I am going to do that but I have to do it. There is just one problem.

"You think that I got sucked into the game. What if he were inside so far that he forgets the real plan? What if he forgets us and turns on us? Starts giving them information about the Serpents? We couldn't have that. We are already losing this war for Riverdale as it is," I tell her and lay back down with my arm over my face.

Betty puts her hand on my chest.

"That won't happen. We will watch him, check on him and he'll be just fine. He'll help us and we'll bring one of our loyal members back into the gang," she says with a smile.

"You're right."

There is a long moment where we both sit staring at each other. I reach my hand up to her. I put my hand behind her head and pull her close to me. She leans down, kissing my lips and putting her leg over mine. She kisses me a few more times, keeping her body on mine. I pull her over until she is under me and we are kissing longer and harder.

"Wait," I say when my head throbs with yet another question of loyalty that is just looming over my body.

"What?" she asks.

"What about Cheryl and Toni? They don't deserve to be out. Toni is one of the last Serpents by blood. I can't just kick her out and not give her a chance to come back in. I need a reason to let her back in, and we both know that if she is back in, she'll drag her red-hot girlfriend with her." I roll my eyes and realize how much pain I am causing myself. "Those two are causing me more trouble than they are worth."

"They're our friends. Maybe they will respond better to me than to you. Maybe I can help with them, convince them to help the Serpents and let them back in."

"That would be great," I say.

"For now, you need some sleep."

"How am I supposed to sleep when the man in black is basically taking my home town, my best friend is god knows where and my girlfriend was in trouble for the last couple of weeks without my knowledge?" I ask.

She lays beside me with her hands on my chest and her face close enough to kiss. Instead of kissing, she just stares at me.

"I'm safe now. I got out of there just fine on my own. You were busy keeping our best friend safe. He'll be fine out there for a while before we know that he won't get hurt bringing him back here. Hiram isn't doing anything right now anyway. For just a few hours, I need you to sleep," she says.

I know she is right.

I let myself close my eyes and drift off with the faint feeling of Be