So, this is a very long chapter. Most likely the longest one, in fact. I have finals in two weeks, so this may be the final chapter I post until I am on vacation. Hence, why I decided not to post it in two parts.

Now, this chapter is set up differently than every other chapter in the story so far. There is one section in the beginning of the chapter that deals with the aftermath of the shower scene, the biggest chunk is flashbacks, and the end brings us back to the present. There is no discernible order to the flashbacks other than the fact that they all move progressively towards the trauma that Betty experienced, which eventually led to their year-long break-up. So, yes I am finally revealing the reason they broke up.

I was nice and wrote some pretty cute and fluffy flashbacks before the big reveal to help lessen the blow somewhat. Tissues for this chapter may be required. For those who like it, the song for this chapter is Don't Let Me Go by RAIGN.

Archie couldn't keep the splitting grin off his face as he pulled on a clean pair of jeans. He shivered slightly as ice cold droplets of water dripped from his messy hair-mussed by both a towel and Betty-onto his bare back, a movement that he knew Betty saw.

"So...that happened," Archie started, running his hair through a towel once again.

"It did," Betty replied as she pulled on one of Archie's Army shirts.

"And…?"

"And what?"

"Betty, we can't pretend that this didn't happen."

"I never said we should," she threw back at him, stuffing her shirt into a plastic bag to take home with her. "Have you seen my jeans?"

"I think they're downstairs. But what are you saying we should do?"

Betty rolled her eyes and tossed the bag on the floor before taking a seat on the couch and running a hand through her damp hair. "I'll get the rest of my clothes later. And since you were honest with me last night, I guess I need to be honest with you too."

"Okay…" Archie trailed off. He silently prayed that Betty wasn't about to break his heart by saying that she couldn't be with him anymore. But he also knew that he would gladly suffer in silence for the rest of his days if it meant that Betty was happy, even if it was with someone else.

"I want to be with you, Archie. I really do. For the past year, I tried my best to move on from you, to pretend like what we had was over. But I know that it's not. It never was. Not when you have our history."

Seven years ago…

"I honestly didn't know if you were going to show up," Archie said as soon as he got a moment alone with Betty after his graduation from basic training. It had been a welcome surprise to find Betty in the crowd next to his mother during the graduation ceremony.

Searching for Betty had always been reflex. Half the time, Archie hadn't even been aware that he was doing it. In the letters they had exchanged, Betty had promised him that she would try her best to fly down to Georgia to see his graduation ceremony at the end of his training, but he knew better than to try and get his hopes up. Betty had her own life at Yale; there was no way she would put it on hold to come see him.

And yet he was wrong.

Somehow, Betty had managed to take time off from school-something her mother would surely kill her for-and hop on a flight to get to Fort Benning in time to witness Archie graduate. He should have known better. Betty was anything but selfish and she would always be willing to put her life on hold to help her friends anyway she could.

"Of course, I came, Archie," she replied without a moment's hesitation.

"I know it couldn't have been easy. How did you pull it off?"

"I was always planning on coming to see you graduate. It was just a matter of getting here. Your mom was kind enough to call me a few days ago with the offer of paying for my plane ticket. It seems someone told her about me."

Archie grinned sheepishly. "I might have brought up how you sent me care packages in my letters once or twice."

"Don't be sorry. I'm glad you did it. I can't imagine how I would've gotten here otherwise."

Well...they both knew that wasn't entirely true. Betty could have just as easily called Veronica, who would have been happy to pay for her flight-as long as she got to tag along. Jughead probably would have been roped into coming as well. It could have been a little reunion.

And yet, Archie was sort of happy that hadn't happened. He was willing to admit that he wanted Betty all to himself.

"I know that my mom was really happy to find out we keep in touch too," he replied instead.

"Have you tried reaching out to the others?"

"With what?" Archie said. "I have no idea what the address for Jughead or Veronica is. If they really wanted to get in touch with me, they could have found me easily. Especially if they asked you. Anyway, what about you?"

"No, not really. Veronica and I used to try and text occasionally, but school got in the way. We drifted apart."

He didn't ask her to elaborate on Jughead; she didn't need to.

"You can't text Veronica, but you can send me care packages?"

Betty shrugged. "Veronica and I drifted apart. We could go days, maybe weeks before responding to each other's messages. You and I never drifted apart. And I sincerely hope we never will."

"Then we won't."

Six years ago…

"Hey you," Betty said, running a gentle hand through Archie's short red hair. He took a deep breath and sleepily grinned at her through his eyes that were only half open. Seeing that it was calming him, Betty continued the motion with one hand, gently holding one of his hands with the other.

"Betty? What are you doing here?" He murmured.

"I came to see you, silly."

"I thought you had school."

Betty shook her head. "You are far more important to me than school."

And he had given her a real scare.

His tour was set to end in about a month, just enough time for their one-year reunion with Jughead and Veronica at their old booth at Pop's. On the second to last night of his tour, Archie and his unit had been out on patrol when they were ambushed. Betty didn't know any other details about it-classified-but she knew that Archie had risked his life to save the life of one of his fellow Rangers and was injured getting him to safety.

He had undergone surgery at a U.S. field hospital before being transported to Landstuhl, Germany and then finally to Walter Reed in Maryland where Betty had been waiting for him.

Mary Andrews had been the first to hear the news as Archie's next of kin. Once she got her wits about her, she called Betty, who she knew would drop everything to be there for Archie. True to her predictions, Betty had immediately exchanged her plane ticket to Riverdale for one to Maryland, giving her mother a brief and vague explanation (the flu was going around campus) as to why her plans suddenly changed. Honestly, she hadn't really cared if her mom believed her or not. All that mattered was getting to Archie.

"I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Andrews. What did I say about being careful?"

Archie grinned even wider-if that was possible. "You don't have to worry, Betts. I'll always come back to you."

"The three bullet holes in you say otherwise."

"I consider them proof of how much I fought to come home."

"This is home, huh?" Betty asked, feeling warmth spread through her body like a fire.

"You're here. Wherever you are is home to me, Betty."

Betty laughed and gripped his hand a little tighter in her own. A few tears escaped her eyes at his words, which she quickly wiped away. The last thing she wanted was for Archie to worry about-not when he was recovering from being shot three times.

Somehow, despite the awful circumstances that brought them to this hospital, Betty would rather by nowhere else. Archie may have been high as a kite on painkillers, but Betty knew him better than anyone. He knew exactly what he was saying and how it would make her feel.

"Betty?"

"Yeah, Arch?"

"Can you stay with me?" He murmured, starting to drift off again from the painkillers.

Betty nodded and continued running a hand through his hair. "I'm not going anywhere."

"That's good. Cause I'm not either."

"Why? You planning on going somewhere?"

"Yeah. I'm going where you go."

"Then, I'll stay right here until you can follow me, Archie."

"I'll follow you forever."

"I think that's called marriage."

His eyes opened a bit again at her words. "Then, we should get married."

"We aren't even engaged," Betty replied with a soft chuckle. "Or dating, for that matter."

"One day, we should. That way I always get to come home to you."

Archie's eyes closed again, still wearing that same goofy grin on his face that told Betty that he was happy to have her there with him. He fell asleep quickly, pulled under by the combination of drugs and Betty's ministrations. Once it was clear he was asleep, Betty pulled her hand away to the edge of the bed. She made herself as comfortable as she could in the hard plastic hospital chair without letting go of his hand or moving the chair too much; the last thing she wanted was to interrupt his much-needed rest.

His words struck a chord within her. There had once been a time when Betty had hoped to hear those words from Archie Andrews, the boy-next-door. And then that time had passed and she considered those dreams long gone, though a part of her had always hoped otherwise.

They had been navigating a strange relationship this past year. They were still best friends, but now there was something else there; something that came with the knowledge that both parties involved knew exactly how the other felt. And maybe it was just the reemergence of those same hopes she had thought long gone, but somehow...Betty knew that they would get there eventually.

After all, Betty always wanted to come home to him, too.

Three years ago…

A soft breeze blew as they walked along the waterfront of a beach in Virginia. Betty was in a beautiful light blue, flowy dress and Archie was in his dress blues. Neither of them spoke much; they were content to just enjoy the peace and quiet-a rarity in their lives.

"This is nice," Archie commented, using his arm to turn Betty around and bring her into his arms. They stopped walking and instead started to sway. There was no music to dance to, but they had never needed music when they were dancing together.

"Yeah, it is," Betty replied.

They had just come from the wedding of one of Archie's Ranger buddies. It was a beautiful ceremony, but eventually they had both decided to skip out on the rest of the party in favor of spending some alone time. Betty had just started her training at the FBI, which kept her very busy. It had briefly strained their brand-new relationship, but they had come to the realization that they should just take whatever moments they could for themselves. Wherever those moments happened to be.

"We should do this more often."

"The wedding, the dancing, or the dating?"

Archie shrugged and gave her a sheepish grin. "I'm good with all three if you are."

"You are incorrigible, Archie Andrews."

"You wouldn't have me any other way." Betty rolled her eyes, but pulled him in for a kiss that told Archie everything she was feeling without words.

Yes, they may have just started dating a few months ago, but they both already knew that they were in this for the long haul-whatever that looked like for them. When they pulled away, they rested their foreheads against each other, still swaying softly, which made the moment even more romantic to the couple.

"I meant what I said, Betty," Archie said quietly, breaking the peaceful silence between them. "I'd marry you today if you said yes. After all, you did tell me to wait until we were eighteen."

"You missed that deadline," she teased.

"Good things come to those who wait for the right moment."

"Haven't found the right moment yet?"

"Not yet. But I know it will come one day."

The significance of the moment was not lost on either of them. It was just a few years ago when Archie had broken Betty's heart by saying that she was perfect; that he would never be good enough for her. A lot had changed since then, though.

Archie had learned that no one was perfect-not even Betty Cooper. They both had their demons and their flaws that shaped them into the individuals that they are today. But if there was one thing that they had learned, it was that love was not about perfection; it was about seeing each other's flaws and demons and loving each other anyway.

"I'll hold you to that."

Two years ago…

Archie walked into he and Betty's shared apartment with comfort food from Betty's favorite restaurant and a small bag full of prescriptions that he had just picked up from the pharmacy. He glanced over at Betty, who was curled up on the couch with tears in her eyes, and came to the conclusion that she wasn't in the mood to eat. He put the food in the fridge for later and joined her on the couch with the prescriptions and a glass of water.

"How are you doing?" He asked softly, rubbing her thigh in an attempted act of comfort. Archie had no idea how to help her through this, especially when he was still in shock himself.

"I felt off yesterday. I should've gone to see my doctor," Betty murmured, not even trying to hide the tears that still streamed from her eyes.

"There was no way that you could have known that this would happen. Betty...the miscarrage is not your fault."

They had been getting ready to go to a Christmas party with their friends when Betty had suddenly started bleeding. Neither of them had any idea that she had been pregnant until the doctor told them that she had miscarried. The baby had been a month old.

For a month, they had been parents.

And neither of them had known until it was too late.

Betty wiped her face with the blanket that she had wrapped loosely around her. They were both at a loss; unsure of what to do in the face of this unexpected and overwhelming loss.

Even before they started dating, they had spoken about getting married and raising a family together. It seemed inevitable after everything that they had gone through in the past few years. And yet, neither of them had expected for this to happen.

"If we had known...what would you have wanted to do?" she asked. He took a deep breath but didn't answer the question because they both knew the answer.

She had seen him play with the children of his Ranger buddies when they all got together; Archie was a natural with kids. If he had known, Archie would have wanted to raise the baby with her whether or not they were married.

And perhaps that was what hurt most of all.

Neither of them was ready to be parents-hadn't even told their moms or friends that they were together yet-but they would have tried their best to give the kid a far better childhood than what they had; no serial killers, shooters, gangs, or any of the other trauma they experienced in high school. Their kid would have been raised with two loving parents who loved their kid more than anything in the world.

"We're going to get through this, Betty. I don't know how, but we will. You're not alone."

His words had been just what Betty needed to hear because she released one sob, and then another, before giving up any resistance she had left. Archie left his position by her feet and lifted her up a bit so he could slide into the couch behind her. He wrapped his arms around her torso-taking care to be as gentle as possible-and leaned his cheek against her temple. He said nothing, knowing that no words could fill the gaping wound that had opened in both their hearts.

Archie closed his eyes and let a few tears of his own stream down his face as he and the girl he loved more than anything else in the world mourned the loss of a life they hadn't even known existed.

One month later…

"Where are you going?" Archie asked, standing in the doorway of Betty's apartment as he watched her pack a bag of clothes and toiletries.

"I'm going over to Sarah's place. I just can't be here right now," she replied, not looking him in the eye once as she continued her packing.

Contrary to what Archie had promised at Christmas, he and Betty did not get through it together. Archie began to pull away from her once she was fully physically recovered from the ordeal, leaving her to try and deal with the trauma by herself. It strained their relationship to a breaking point, which was even more evident by Betty leaving her own apartment to stay with her old college roommate.

"When will you be back?"

"I honestly don't know."

"So, that's it? We're not going to talk about this?"

Betty finally looked up with anger and hurt blazing in her eyes. "Talk?! That's rich coming from the guy who has barely spoken to me in weeks!"

"What do you want me to say, Elizabeth?!" Archie replied, feeling the anger that he had been burying inside him for weeks bubble to the surface. He was angry that the universe had seen how happy he was with Betty and decided to ruin it by throwing even more tragedy their way. Except this tragedy was far worse than anything else Archie had ever had to experience before.

"Hmm...I don't know! Maybe something about you feel? Face it, Archie. I know that you've been having nightmares about losing me, losing the baby, but you won't let me help you!"

"I'm not having nightmares," he quickly denied.

Archie wasn't sure why he was lying to Betty. She always knew when he was lying and vice versa. Maybe their relationship was in far worse shape than he expected. Betty didn't even bother calling him out on his lie. Instead, she zipped her bag shut and made her way to the door that Archie was still standing in front of. Apparently, his lie was the final straw.

"Look, Archie, I can't do this anymore. I need help and I need support-neither of which I am going to get from you as you've made blatantly obvious the past few weeks. When I get back from Sarah's, I don't want to find you here."

With that said, Betty slipped past him and got the door, slamming it behind her. Every fiber in Archie's body screamed at him to follow her, to convince her to stay, to try and work things out between them. Yet, he didn't move. Instead, Archie collapsed against the door, sobbing, as he allowed himself to feel the pain of losing, not just his unborn baby, but the only person who would make him whole again.

They had shared a beautiful-sometimes violent-history these past seven years that had ended just as abruptly as it had started.

Walking away from Archie had been one of the most difficult things that Betty had ever had to do. It hurt her deeply to walk away, but at the same time, she recognized that it was something she needed at the time. Betty needed help after the miscarrage and Archie had not been in the right position to give her the help that she so desperately needed. Looking back, she didn't blame him.

They both processed their traumas differently, though the injuries they had sustained on the job paled in comparison to losing the baby. Neither of them had known how to process such an important and unexpected loss that retreated into themselves.

A year later and the wound was still fresh, but they were now properly equipped to help each other. At least, that was the read that Betty was getting from Archie. The only thing holding them back now was the fear of having to go through such a loss without each other again, a fear that had proven to be paralyzing.

"All I know is that I love you and that I always will," Betty finally said after they both finished reliving the memories that led them to where they were today. So close and yet so far away.

"I feel the same way."

"It won't be easy, but I'm willing to give us another shot if you are."

Archie grinned as the words he had been praying she would say for a year finally came true. "Nothing would make me happier."

This time, things were going to be different. They had both grown from the young adults faced with an insurmountable loss to adults who were struggling, but willing to finally struggle together. And while their problems were far from over, they would no longer be facing them alone.

From the very beginning of this story, I decided that Betty and Archie would get back together fairly early on. I figured that the story would get to the point where its either I get them together and keep them together, or not have them get back together at all (ahem, Riverdale writers). I also decided early on in the writing process that Betty and Archie broke up because Betty had a miscarriage, and instead of dealing with it together, they fractured. In this story, Betty and Archie have a very strong relationship, even before they broke up. I figured that only something as traumatic as a miscarriage would have the potential to break them up and still affect them at the time of the story. And this trauma will be further addressed in the story. It will still play a major role in the progression of their relationship because getting back together does not magically erase all their problems instantly. Betty and Archie still have a long way to go, but they are working together now and for each other instead of by themselves.

I also tried to address some continuity gaps that the show gave us in the time jump. In the show, we never discover why Betty, Archie, and Veronica miss the one-year reunion. In this story, I tried to fix that by having Archie injured and recovering in the hospital with Betty by his side as their reason for missing the reunion. I still have no idea why Veronica missed, but we can just assume she was busy or forgot or something like that. Either way, its not the focus of this story.

And to help you make sense of the flashbacks (because I found myself getting really confused while writing), here is a timeline of Betty and Archie's relationship over the seven year gap.

The first flashback is easy to place since it takes place only ten weeks after the end of the show before the time jump. The second flashback takes place a year a little under a year later, right on the day that they all left Riverdale a year before, so Betty would be a sophomore in college. Hence, why it takes place six years before the current time. The third flashback jumps forward to when they are dating. For the sake of the timeline, this means that they start dating the year AFTER Betty has graduated from Yale and is starting her training with the FBI, which takes about a year in this story. The miscarriage and breakup happen a year later around Christmas and then they spend a year apart before returning to Riverdale. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, thank you for reading this EXTREMELY long chapter and author's note. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you next time. Though, I'll be honest that this chapter took A LOT out of me. It might be a little while.