Author's note: This one. Xx

Betty stared into her cup of tea that Jughead had forced into her hands, eyes not absorbing the liquid in any form or fashion. A friend, a good friend, was dead. Because of her. Because some sick, twisted fuck decided to take too much of an interest in her. What Betty couldn't fathom, (along with other things, admittedly), was how her stalker knew Valerie well enough for Valerie to feel comfortable with him in her apartment. The police had verified that there were no signs of a struggle; no signs of forced entry and that Valerie most definitely knew the man.

The man, whoever he was, was also incredibly intelligent. Intelligent enough to make sure to wipe her apartment free of his fingerprints, along with the bloody scarf he left as some sick gift for Betty. The officer in charge of the case had informed Betty, Jughead, and Sweet Pea that there had been no prints to lift, and it was a smart move on their part to not touch the scarf at all – or, the only prints they'd have found would have been one of theirs', if not all.

Betty knew what the officer was implying with his words; that they would be the ones accused of Valerie's murder and thrown in jail before they had time to even defend themselves against the accusation. Forced to wait it out for their parents to come and bail them out and then further be forced to ride out the shit storm by hiring expensive attorneys. Betty knew that, for her at least, there was no way she'd have been able to afford that. And she would have definitely opted to avoid going to her mother. Alice Cooper didn't need another monetary problem.

When Officer Reynolds eventually left Betty's apartment, herding the forensics team out with him, she sighed, eyes still staring into her mug of tea. She tried to take a sip of tea as she caught Jughead looking at her worriedly from her peripheral, however, all that happened was she choked on a sob and spluttered the tea out of her mouth, coughing as she tried to find a way to do damage control. To stay afloat. Anything.

"Oh, Betty," Jughead murmured, and for the first time, she allowed herself the pain she felt at not hearing her familiar nickname falling from his lips as he adjusted the blanket he had wrapped around her shoulders when the got back to the apartment. Dean Burble had given her an extended leave – and the dance team was on official hiatus, busy planning a memoriam for Valerie.

"You…you can call me Betts, if you want," she croaked out in a voice barely more than a whisper. She chewed on her lip as she stared at her lap and away from his questioning look until she felt him turn her face towards him by cupping her cheek with a gentle hand.

"Is that what you want, Betty?" Jughead asked softly and she looed at him, smiling smally.

"Yeah, it's what I want. I've missed hearing it," she murmured.

"Well, all right then, Betts," he replied sweetly, tracing her jawbone with his thumb. "Feels good to be able to call you that once more."

"Feels good to hear it," Betty admitted honestly, the same soft smile playing at her lips. Then, it dropped off as she sighed and closed her eyes. "I shouldn't be smiling right now, Juggie."

"Hey, listen to me, Betty," he said, hold her face in his hands so she couldn't turn from him. "Your friend seemed like the type of person who was genuinely cared about by her friends and family, correct?"

Betty nodded, not quite sure where he was going with this. "Yes."

"That means she had the same type of caring nature in her being. People are attracted to the same type of people they are. Valerie wouldn't begrudge you for smiling right now, I know that much."

Betty laughed softly, wiping her face of the tears that had fallen. "Thanks, Jug."

He smiled, hugging her gently before pulling back when there was a knock on the door. "Were you expecting anyone?"

Betty frowned. "No, not that I can recall."

Just then, Sweet Pea walked towards the door. "Who the hell is it."

"Who the hell are you?" A female's voice sounded back, and Betty chuckled, rolling her eyes as she stood up from the couch.

"It's Ronnie, another dancer on the team," she explained, going over to answer the door. Betty took one look at the other woman, who's eyes were red-rimmed and opened her arms, allowing Veronica to all but collapse into her hold tightly. Rubbing a soothing hand up her back, Betty didn't hush her friend's cries. They all needed to grieve.

"She was murdered, Betty! The killer knew her!" Veronica wailed, and Betty swallowed her own pain back as she knew she needed to comfort her friend's distress right now.

"I know honey, I know," Betty murmured, hand still smoothing circles into her friend's back.

"It isn't f-fair! Why would anyone do such a heinous thing to such a sweet person?" Veronica cried as Betty rocked her back and forth, looking over at Sweet Pea from her shoulder. Tilting her head towards the kitchen, she hoped the taller understood that she wanted him to make Veronica a cup of tea as well. The quiet, "with a shot of whiskey", convinced her that he did, and Betty led Veronica to the couch, helping her ease down as she accepted the box of tissues from Jughead.

"You're right, V," she said softly, voice filled with her own anguish. "It isn't fair. Valerie didn't deserve to die like that. No one does. I'm so sorry. I know she was a good friend of yours'."

"She was. Just like you are," Veronica mumbled as she dabbed at her face with the tissue. "Which is why we need to watch each other's backs right now. Us and the whole team."

Betty hummed, knowing her friend was wise with that assessment but not for the reasons she thought. She probably thought the killer was targeting Valerie and there, in turn, would target the team. It wasn't on the mark – he was making a show of it to Betty. Letting her know that he was closer to her than she thought – especially if he knew the kind-hearted person Val was. "Yeah, of course. None of us are to stay late at the studio anymore when we're cleared to dance again. I need you to pass the message along to the other girls, if you can."

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, of course." Then she looked up when Sweet Pea entered the room, handing over the tea. "Thank you."

"Of course," the taller replied, easy smile resting against his lips. "Name's Sweet Pea."

"Okay. Veronica Lodge," Veronica replied before taking a sip of her tea and Betty knew she didn't mean to come off as brash. She shook her head at Sweet Pea to indicate it wasn't a slight against him and he nodded.

"And I'm Jughead," Jughead added, and Veronica looked at them both.

"Weird fucking names," she said.

Betty laughed as much as she felt like she could.

It wasn't going to get any better for a long time.

Author's note: Enjoy! Not proofreading this because honestly, it was a busy day at work and I'm tired as fuck. Thoughts lovely per usual! Xxx