Chapter 12 continued...

"Dude!" Fangs shouted, but the reprimand was directed at Sweet Pea, "You need to shut the hell up!"

"What?" Sweet Pea retorted, "Is it my fault our fearless leader is jonesing for Red's girl?"

At that, Jughead managed to slip from Fangs' grasp and lunged for Sweet Pea's throat. Fangs was just fast enough to a get a booted foot to the back of Jughead's knee. He sent Jughead to a kneeling position and then tackled him to the ground.

"Like you're so goddam morally pure!" Fangs shouted up at his friend as he struggled to subdue Jughead.

Those words finally seemed to resonate with Sweet Pea. His anger drained from him in a wave that left him feeling depleted, exhausted and ashamed. He stepped forward, bent at the waist and held a hand out to Jughead.

Fangs and Jughead ceased in their battle and both stared up at the proffered hand. Jughead looked at the appendage as though it were a rattlesnake poised to strike.

"Sorry, Jonesy," Sweet Pea said, his voice genuine.

Fangs let himself be shaken off as Jughead rose to his knees, took Sweet Pea's hand and Sweet Pea tugged him to his feet.

"That was hitting below the belt and I know it. All of us know how you are when it comes to your friends and loyalty." Sweet Pea went on, his voice filled with contrition, "I didn't mean it."

"No real harm done," Jughead said by way of forgiveness. Then, he cleared his throat and crossed the room to his desk, "Now, you guys came in here for a reason."

Jughead leaned over and scooped the abandoned nearly forgotten JJ wrappers from the floor and deposited them on the desk. "These come from the same girl?" He asked.

Fangs shook his head, "Nah. I found them in the locker room."

It seemed like in the span of twenty-four hours, Betty's world had come crashing down around her, been put back together, then crumbled back down again. When had everything become such a freaking roller coaster?

When she spotted Archie at his locker in the hall, she straightened her shoulders, tightened her ponytail and made a bee-line for him; confrontation and a break-up on her mind. She had never been on to sit idly by. She had been raised to believe that the best way to get results was to take action, so that's what she was going to do.

Archie grinned from ear to ear when he spotted Betty heading toward him. He closed his locker and leaned against it to wait for her.

"Hey, Betty!" He said and touched her arm. He liked how soft her sweaters always were. What he didn't like was the way her entire body had stiffened when he'd touched her. "What's up?"

When her eyes met his, Archie started to get a strong, sinking feeling in his gut. Her expression was so serious. "Can we talk?" She asked, "Maybe somewhere more private? Outside?"

'No!' Archie thought, 'No!' Can we talk was never a good sign. Can we talk equaled bad things, disastrous things. He would not go somewhere private.

"Tell me what's going on, Betty?" He demanded.

She pressed her lips together, took a deep breath through her nose and then destroyed his world.

"Ms. Grundy was at Sweetwater River on July Fourth," she said, her big eyes searching his own, "Archie, were you with her?"

"It's not what you're thinking!" He blurted, catching hold of her arm and clinging in desperation. He could feel the sinking feeling growing. He felt like his stomach was down around his ankles.

"Really?" She asked, the disbelief evident in her voice.

She was a smart girl. Archie knew he would never be able to lie to her.

"Okay," he admitted, "maybe it's a little bit what you're thinking."

"Oh my, God!" She said, "I'm gonna be sick."

"But, listen it's-"

"Illegal, is what it is, Archie." Betty stated, furious and unable to hide the rage.

"Don't say that," Archie pleaded.

"Oh, it's said," Betty spat, "She's your teacher. You're her student."

"What?" A new voice broke in from behind Archie and he turned to see Veronica

standing there with her mouth formed into a perfect little 'O.

"Christ," Archie said and let his forehead fall against the lockers with a THUNK.

Betty didn't hesitate to bring her bestie in on the situation, "Archie has been having an affair with Ms. Grundy."

"Archikins, is that true?" Veronica asked, stepping to Betty's side and glancing around to make certain that no one else was in earshot.

"No. Yes." Archie struggled, "Sort of."

"Okay, that's scandalous," Veronica said.

Betty had laser focus, "How do you 'sort of' have an affair?"

"It's over!" Archie declared, slamming one fist against the locker. When he noticed it pulled both girls' attention completely to him, he softened his tone and took hold of Betty's hand, "It has been since I met you."

Betty shook her head and pulled her hand away, "You said you were at the river alone. You lied to Sheriff Keller. To me. To everyone."

"She believed in me when no one else did." Archie said, his eyes dropping to his feet.

With sudden and unwelcome clarity, all of Jughead's words came flooding back to Betty. How she was so good for Archie, how Archie needed her, how he could never do that to Archie. Archie was splintering. Jughead could see it. And somehow, she had become his duct tape. Jughead could see that too and he'd been trying to tell her. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair...but it was what it was. Maybe Jughead was right and Archie needed her right now. She couldn't abandon him.

But she didn't think she could keep 'dating' him. Not with the way she felt about Jughead.

She had just opened her mouth to tell Archie that she would always be there for him...as a friend but that was the exact moment that Ms. Grundy emerged from a nearby classroom and began walking in their direction. Betty focused in on the older woman just in time to see the teacher do a covert and purely sexual appraisal over the length of Archie's body as she approached. Like a momma bear sensing a threat to her cub, Betty's reaction was instinctive. She wrapped her arms around Archie's neck and pulled him into a hug, as though she could shield him from the other woman's assessment. Archie clung to her like a lifeline, needy, suffocating.

Betty did her best to soothe him, stroking a hand over his back. "It's okay," she cooed, "We'll get through this."

Archie drew back to meet her eyes, "Together?"

His eyes were begging her but Betty couldn't bring herself to actually say the word so she nodded her head, forcing a tight lipped smile. Archie cupped her face and kissed her with a hunger that she couldn't reciprocate. She did however give in to it, let him take what he needed from her. When he finally broke the kiss, he pulled her into another tight embrace and as she rested her chin on his shoulder, she came eye to eye with Jughead.

He was standing across the hall, flanked by Fangs and Sweet Pea and looking like he'd just taken a knife in the gut. Betty willed him to read her mind, to know her thoughts and emotions in the moment. But all that happened was Sweet Pea reached over and squeezed his shoulder I brotherly support before Fangs physically turned him in the other direction and guided him down the hall.

Away from her.

Author's Note : File was too big. Had to split it... That's it for now. Thanks for reading if you are. Thanks for reviewing if you do.