A/N: This chapter is kind of bland, but it introduces some of the romance things, and feelings that people have for each other. Which, is what I intended it to do. Through this, I will try to be sticking to canon, but also putting a bunch of my own little twists on it, making it differentiate from canon. And obviously there are some things that I will be doing that aren't canon at all, but it's because I want to ass emotional depth to the characters, as much as possible. Also, I'm a big fan of using the same dialogue that they have in the show, so I will also try to sneak in those little nuggets. Also, I hope everyone is doing okay, self-quarantining if possible, and keeping up hope. I know it can be hard to social distance, but just remember; it's for everyone's health and well being. Anyway, I introduce to you, chapter 2!

Chapter 2

Eventually, she got to Pop's. It was a nauseating and dizzying walk, but she made it.

She was a mixture of panic, anxiety, and hope, as she walked up the stone steps and pushed through the glass door.

The iconic doorbell greeted her, as, instinctively, her eyes lead themselves over to the booth that they always sat at. Or, used to sit at.

And there he was. Six feet of tall, handsome Archie.

Wow, Kevin wasn't lying, Betty thought as she glimpsed his arms, which were about twice the size of when she saw them last, admiring all of the work that he must've had to do to get them.

Self-consciously, she diverted her gaze away from his amazing arms, and stared at his face.

His chiseled, groomed face. She could tell that he had shaved very recently; there were little patches of stubble butting through his otherwise smooth face.

For a second, Betty thought about what it would be like to kiss those lips, to lay her head against those stubbly cheeks. It was one of the only happy things that she had these days, so when Archie noticed her and waved her over, she was disappointed to have to return to reality.

But, since she would be dealing with real-life Archie, Betty could bare it for a little while yet.

Not much happened after that. Most of it was just Archie and Betty exchanging stories and conversations that they had had over the summer, and, of course, Betty silently mooning over Archie.

Archie had also told her about his sudden desire to write song lyrics.

Apparently, he was bored the major part of his summer, so he started composing poems, and then making up music to go along with them, playing his guitar.

He was pretty self-conscious about it, because the only person he told was Betty, and he said to keep it a secret.

Betty didn't mind, though. It just made her feel closer to him, sharing a secret that no one else knew about.

After they had discussed the better part of their summer, and downed two milkshakes each, Betty decided it was time.

There were a million voices in her head, telling her not to do it, to back out, to go home.

He'll reject you, for sure.

He doesn't love you like that, and he never will. Why do you think he's never said anything?

Just go home now, before you make a fool out of yourself.

For once, Betty ignored all of those pesky voices. Taking a sip of her vanilla milkshake, she clenched her right fist, feeling the all-too-familiar sting of fingernails on skin, and mentally scolded herself.

You're gonna get fat.

Your mom will hate you, everyone will.

How are you supposed to stay skinny if you can't refrain from one measly milkshake?

Betty didn't want to eat or drink anything, almost ever. She was too nauseous from hunger and fatigue.

But she had decided that she had to, to act normal. That was what the regular Betty would've done. Hell, she would've downed double the amount she already had, but that was too much.

Besides, she would puke everything up afterward. It wasn't like that abnormal for her.

Taking a deep breath, and pushing out all of the voices telling her to leave, Betty began.

"So, Archie." She said, changing her tone to a more serious one, which affectively got his attention.

"I've been thinking, about us and our friendship- "Betty stopped, realizing that the attention had been snatched, by something over her head.

Archie had stars in his eyes, rightfully so, as his eyes were glued to a lithe figure, walking into Pop's.

She had shoulder-length black hair, immaculate facial features, and warm, deep chocolate-brown eyes, which made Betty dizzy if she stared at them for too long.

She stood tall, not like she was somehow superior to everyone, but like she was confident, in herself and her actions. She wore a black cloak, of which she removed the hood of, when she sauntered around the bend.

As Betty turned around, her mind went completely blank, focusing only on the beautiful goddess in front of her.

She was definitely the most gorgeous person Betty had ever seen. She waltzed around to her and Archie's table, and Betty could've sworn that she threw her a seductive glance as she came up.

Betty was completely and utterly starstruck.

She felt the familiar feeling of butterflies in her stomach, coincidentally the same feeling that she got when she thought of Archie.

No.

Betty stopped. She zoned back in, realizing what she was thinking.

She liked this girl. And not just in the friendship way. She like liked her.

She pushed down all of those feelings.

Betty had gotten them before, when she was scrolling through Instagram and she saw a pretty picture of a girl. Or, even sometimes when she thought of her old friend, Alyssa.

They had been practically best friends in middle school, until she moved away for high school. Betty had known for a long time that she had had a crush on Alyssa, but she suppressed all of those feelings.

Which, was exactly what she needed to do now.

Her mom would never approve of those feelings.

All her life, her mom had been drilling into her that it was unnatural for girls to be attracted to girls, same with boys.

This always led to awkward situations when Kevin was around, with him being gay. Betty fully accepted him, even admired him a little bit, for being able to come out to his parents.

That just made Betty hate her mom even more.

It was fine if she had to supress her true feelings, but her mom being homophobic in front of Kevin, openly? Betty loathed.

Shaking her head in annoyance, Betty sighed. The mystery girl probably didn't even like girls. She might even think that Betty was a freak for suggesting it in the first place.

Digging her nails in her free hand, Betty brought herself back to the present, not letting the tears glistening in her eyes get out.

Her mom would never accept her, neither would her dad. Hell, even Polly wouldn't.

She would just have to stay closeted, because her family's definition of perfect, didn't include homosexuality.

Just the thought that she had to hide from Polly of all people, panicked her.

Where even is Polly?

Is she okay?

There must've been something I could've done to protect her from our parents.

As the scolding thoughts went through her head, the cloaked beauty came up next to her booth.

"We have an order, for Lodge." She said, confirming her order with Pop.

"Yep, it'll be another couple minutes," Pop replied.

The Lodge girl acknowledged him with a curt nod, as she turned over to Archie and Betty's booth.

When she spoke, it was like silk gliding through the air.

Elegant, kind, flowing.

Betty suppressed those feelings once more, as she turned her gaze to her milkshake, which she wanted to do anything but drink.

"Are the onion rings any good?" She asked, directing the question at Archie.

"Uh, yeah. They're terrific," Archie said, equally as starstruck as Betty, but much more obvious.

This hurt Betty. They were supposed to be there together, not talking to another girl. This was the night that Betty was supposed to tell Archie how she felt. After all, Kevin would kill her if she didn't.

"Oh, great." She said, throwing her head over her shoulder.

"Can we get some onion rings, too?" She shouted to Pop.

He nodded his head, as she turned back to the booth.

"So, are you guys from Riverdale?" She asked.

"Yeah, we're from here, together." Betty said, accentuating on the 'together'.

"Where are you from?" Archie asked, completely ignoring what Betty had just said.

"New York. Me and my mom just moved here." She said, nodding her head.

Archie nodded his too, as if he was deeply intrigued.

"What school are you going to go to?" He asked again.

"Riverdale High. It's the school that my mom went to, so," She said, switching her gaze over to Betty.

"What are your guys' names? I'm Veronica Lodge," She said, extending her hand out to Betty to shake.

"Betty Cooper, and that's Archie Andrews. We go to Riverdale High, too." Betty said, as they both shook Veronica's hand.

As Veronica shook Betty's hand, she was impressed. The handshake was gentle, but firm. Not what she would have expected.

But her fingers and wrist were very thin. She also felt uneven skin on Betty's palms.

Her mind automatically jumped to conclusions.

Does she have problems?

She looks way too thin for her age.

Her mind shot back to one of her best friends, Katy Keene.

When they had met, Katy was in a dark place. Veronica had helped her get out of that negative cycle, and into a positive one.

She had also learned a lot about mental illnesses, and how to identify the symptoms.

There were only a few present in Betty; extreme thinness, shaky hands and the gaunt look her face had, despite the obvious layers of makeup she had put on to mask it.

She would see. She would watch and learn, and get Betty help if she needed some.

However, there was something else about that name, something that was familiar.

"Betty Cooper. Are you," She started, hoping that the blonde would catch on.

"Supposed to give you your tour tomorrow?"

Veronica gave a nod of understanding, her smile widening.

"Yep. That's me." Betty said.

Veronica gazed into the emerald depths, wondering what thoughts were being thought behind those pretty eyes.

Veronica couldn't help herself, as she let her gaze travel down Betty's seemingly perfect face.

Her cheekbones were made for framing her face, making it look more beautiful than it already was. Her eyes went to Betty's lips, which were plump and shimmery.

At a closer look, Betty's face looked a little sunken in. More than it should've been.

But still beautiful as ever.

Veronica was used to these feelings. She knew that she had caught them for this blonde girl.

She had come out to her parents years ago. Thankfully, they fully supported her. Except for when she would bring home a different girl almost every night.

When they were driving here, her mom had made her promise that none of that would happen in Riverdale.

Veronica had obliged, wanting to be better.

She was curious as to if Betty had caught feelings for her, and seeing as how she was avoiding her gaze, fear in her eyes, she was positive that the feeling was mutual.

However, Veronica was determined to clean up her image, from New York.

Trying to impress Betty, Veronica said," I'm filled with dread. Are you familiar with the works of Truman Kapodie? I'm Breakfast at Tiffany's, but this place is strictly In Cold Blood."

Betty gave a nod and a little giggle, as Archie gave a much louder laugh, despite Veronica inferring that he had no idea what she had just said.

Oh yeah, Veronica thought, Betty's so into me.

As if on cue, Betty threw Archie a confused stare, almost as if she thought that he was flirting with Veronica, and it should've been her.

"Ah, well, do you want to join us? Maybe we can un-fill you with dread?" Archie asked, to Betty's distaste.

Veronica wanted so badly to accept the offer, to get to know the beauty that is Betty Cooper.

But, if I wait until tomorrow, we can have alone time, considering she's my peer mentor.

Veronica liked the thought of that.

And, considering the fact that it was Archie who asked her to stay, and all of the overly enthusiastic looks he'd been throwing her, he was definitely crushing.

She'd just find a way to let him down easy.

Betty, on the other hand, was fiercely annoyed at the fact that Archie would even ask such a question.

Tonight, was supposed to be just them, and now because a prettier girl walks in, he loses focus?

Ugg, men.

Also, because she couldn't look Veronica in the eye without smiling like a kid at a candy store. Which was why she had opted to acting annoyed every time she spoke, to throw the scent.

"Actually, my mom's waiting for me, so," Veronica said, gently.

"Oh, ok. We'll just see you tomorrow, then." Archie replied, very excited to do just that.

Veronica nodded, turning on her heel and walking away. But not before she could sneak in a wink at Betty.

Betty's face instantly lit up, shivering at the thought of spending more time with her.

No, Betty. That's wrong.

It's unnatural.

You're letting the demons inside of your head.

What would your mother say about that, huh?

That's not perfect.

She suppressed her feelings once again, as she forcefully turned her head back around, smiling at Archie.

Betty didn't know if she could bare the thought of spending more time with Veronica. She didn't know how much longer she could suppress her feelings.

"So, what were you saying?" Archie asked, clearly dumfounded.

"Oh, nothing."

Betty was disappointed.

The fact that as soon as a girl walked in, that was clearly more attractive than she, Archie just completely forgot about her.

Sighing, she dug her nails in until she could feel the skin break. It felt good. It was easier to act like everything was normal when she had an anger management source.

Meanwhile, as Veronica was in her chauffeur car, driving home, all she could think about was Betty.

She was starstruck.

Veronica did have a gaydar, that was right 99.9% of the time. And right now, it was telling her that Betty mirrored those same feelings for her, but didn't want to.

She was still closeted, and was afraid of breaking through. Veronica would help, though.

Smiling, she started a countdown, of how many hours she'd have to wait to see Betty, again.