I do not own any characters, plots, or anything else pertaining to "Riverdale". This chapter will be from Archie's P.O.V and feature the fallout of the corsage situation. Be warned, this chapter, and the next one will be a doozy, but I promise there are happier chapters ahead. I promise Barchie will rise as they should before long. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.

Chapter 2

Consequences

Archie feels Veronica's eyes on him, and her voice forces him to tear his own eyes away from Betty. He turns to Veronica, seeing a mix of anger and sadness in her expression. "Why now, Archie?" Archie has no idea what to say, let alone how to handle this. He knew back in the limo that this would come up, he just thought they'd talk about it after Prom. He feels a pang of guilt wash over him at the thought that he's ruined her Prom Night, their Prom Night together. "It's like I said back in the limo, I promised her that I'd give her the corsage for Prom. It's nothing, Ronnie." Archie knows that Veronica's smarter than that, but he still hopes that she'll let this go, let them get on with the night.

After a few moments, he watches her anger evaporate and the sadness in her expression deepen. "Don't do that, Archie. Don't lie to me about what's going on between you and Betty. Not again." His heart drops at her words and he knows that this is the end of his story with Veronica. How it has to end. "It happened while we were pretending to date. I…realized that I…I'm sorry, Ronnie. I never meant to hurt you." He watches tears begin to well up in her eyes and it feels like a knife twisting in his heart. "How could you do this to me? How could you lie like that?" He tries to reach across to grab her hand, but she backs away. "Ronnie…" She shakes her head and he watches as the tears roll down her cheeks. "No, you don't get to do that. We're over, Archie. I hope you and Betty are miserable together." With that, she turns around, and makes her way back to the limo.

Archie has to fight the urge to run after her. He knows that this will be the last time he'll probably see her. There's no way she's going to hangout with their group anymore. Archie feels his tears begin to well up in his own eyes, as she gets into the limo, and disappears out of his life. "Archie." He recognizes the voice instantly and he can hear the anger in it. Archie turns just in time to see an angry Jughead running towards him at full speed. He doesn't have time to react before he tackles him to the ground. Archie doesn't want to fight him, but as Jughead throws his first punch, his instincts take over. He manages to throw his own punch, that lands on Jughead's jaw.

After the two exchange a few more punches, Archie hears a familiar voice ring out that makes him stop fighting. "Stop, both of you." Archie feels a black eye coming on as his right eye begins throbbing. He manages to turn his head and see Betty coming towards them. He knows that look on her face, he knows it well. She's got that angry stubborn look she gets when she's fired up about something. Growing up, he knew that look only led to their next fight, and he would always brace himself for it. Now, as he stares at his beautiful best friend, he doesn't know how to brace himself for the impact.

Archie can feel the blood dripping out of his nose, as he slowly gets to his feet. He watches as Betty walks right past him and over to Jughead. Archie notices for the first time how bad Jughead looks right now. He's clutching his ribs, his top lip is busted open, and he has a black eye of his own. Archie feels guilt wash over him at the thought of beating up his best friend. He looks completely defeated and broken. Archie knows that this is the moment that his friendship with Jughead ends and things will never be the same between them again.

He watches Betty kneel down next to him and extends her hand out to him, only for Jughead to glare at her in return. He can see the pain etched in her features and his heart aches for her. Archie can't help but blame himself for all this. He should have never kept his promise to Betty and gave her that corsage, but he hadn't expected it to have this much of an impact. Archie regrets now that he didn't think about the newfound awkwardness between him and Betty before going through with his promise.

After a few more tense moments between them, he watches Jughead slowly get to his feet, and Betty hesitantly does the same. "At least let me help you get home, Jug." Jughead shakes his head in anger. "I don't want your help. Enjoy the rest of the dance, Betty. It looks like your dream of going to Prom with the boy next door is actually coming true." Jughead spews out, before turning around, and staggering away.

Archie watches Betty completely crumble to the ground, with her head in her hands. His heart clenches in his chest and he can't help but make his way over to her. He doesn't hesitate as he reaches her and wraps his arms around her. She doesn't respond to him at first, but after a few moments of being in his arms, she buries her head into his chest sobbing. He wishes he could make this better for her, Veronica, and Jughead, but he knows there's nothing he can do. Archie knows there's no going back, only moving forward.