The Secret

This is a work of fanfiction. No copyright infringement is intended. I own nothing pertaining to The Archie Comics/Riverdale Universe.

…~*~...

Betty cleaned Sweet Pea's face silently, letting the distorted sounds of guitar, bass, drums and vocals wash through her ears while she removed bits of dried blood from his marred skin. None of the occupants of the house discussed how Betty had managed to break into their getaway car, they simply accepted that she was a borderline car thief and went on with their lives. The first thing Jughead did when they walked through the trailer door was go straight to his bedroom, silent and quick. He brought a large first aid kit back into the kitchen with him, setting it on the table where Sweet Pea had sat in a chair. Betty noticed his own face was starting to swell. The next thing he did was place a fresh filter into his coffee pot, not bothering to ask if anyone else wanted some, he just needed caffeine.

Fangs made a phone call and in hushed tones excused himself from the room, going back out onto the rickety porch steps. That was when the music began to play, distorting through the thin walls and muddied by the starting of the shower down the hall.

Continuing her pressing and patting over Sweet Pea's eye, the song changed, something familiar, she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was exactly; she hummed to herself.

Sweet Pea wasn't trying to stare, she hadn't noticed that he was, but he was definitely watching every muscle in Betty's face. It was intriguing, the way she let the emotion wash over her delicate features, she was beautiful. No wonder Jughead had snagged her up, tucking her covetously into his heart, never letting her go, especially after their brief break up after the dance.

Absently, he pushed a stray bit of hair from over her cheek, his fingers grazing her skin. Her eyes darted from the oozing open wound she was trying to keep from bleeding, to Sweet Pea in his open mouthed glory. She took note of how his features were softened, something akin to admiration glittering in his dark almost black eyes.

"Sorry." He looked ashamed. He'd been caught, and if Jughead had seen, Betty wouldn't need to worry about his bleeding face anymore. It wasn't like he wanted to want her. It was easy really. She was so sweet and innocent, a far cry from the girls he'd grown up with. He couldn't help it.

"It's okay. Thank you." Her eyes fluttered closed, then looked at the hallway, then back to him. "He didn't see this time. Don't let it happen again Sweets.

"Sorry." He repeated. Allowing Betty to finish her task.

"You're a really bad liar." She teased, reaching for the triple antibiotic ointment, squeezing some on a q-tip, she smeared it over his eyebrow. He winced in pain.

"Only around you. It's never been a problem before." Opening the band aid for her, he put it back on the table, not wanting to chance their fingers touching. He let the fissure that had somehow grown in his chest ache a little. He deserved it. How could he fall for Jughead's girl like that?

"Since when do you let girls get in your head Sweets?" She was trying to keep him talking, so he didn't notice when she slid the nasty gash she was cleaning back together. It might need stitches. She wasn't being completely honest with herself either. She wanted to know the truth. Not just what Jug and Sweet Pea told her to pacify her nosey mind.

"Since they started cleaning my wounds and feeding me when my own Mother wouldn't." Feeling shame, Sweet Pea closed his eyes. He was in more pain than he led on. His heart was a goddamn ocean bleeding for her. He'd never told anyone. Not even Fangs, and he felt even worse for that.

"Your Mom needs help Sweets, that's all. She came to the Wyrm for you, even if she was high, it was all for you. She endured Rat's hate to see you. That says a lot." Betty rifled through the box, finding the suture kit, medical grade, she wasn't shocked. "I have to stitch you up. Those rings were brutal."

Standing from her seated position, Betty tilted Sweet Pea's head back, his deep brown eyes, so much like Rat's, watching her intently, she didn't dare look into them.

"You think she cares Betts?" Sweet Pea's fingers itched to touch the delicate hands prodding his face, and so much more.

"I know she cares. You're not exactly hard to love Sweets. You're magnetic." Words she'd thought hundreds of times fell from her lips before she could think them through. His eyes met hers, deep and appreciative of her honest words. It did nothing to help either his ever increasing attraction to her.

"Just stitch me up Betts. It feels like shit when you move the skin around." His voice was thick with emotion. Jamming his hands under his arms, he let his eyes slide closed again. It wasn't worth it, watching her move over him, wishing he could taste her lips for just a second. When the needle containing lidocaine pierced his tender skin, he breathed in deep. Thinking back on things he hadn't been wanting to.

"I'm trying to put you back together Sweets. Be still." She let a few fingers slide down his face, then back up toward his forehead. Then the tugging began.

He sat there listening to the heavy guitar and drums of the next song in Jughead's playlist. Praying like hell his friend couldn't read him with Betty so close to him. Parts of him were happy that Betty was not tagging along behind Toni anymore, that she was gaining her independence and finally becoming a headstrong pain in his ass. Other parts were more than a little pissed that it wasn't by his gentle kiss or his steady hand on the small of her back that she became the badass woman hovering above him now.

He had wished for so long that he wouldn't have stayed inside the Whyte Wyrm after Betty's dance, meeting Alice drink for drink. Here he was though, letting Betty stitch his split face back together in his President's house. He was going to escort her in a few weeks to her final task and he'd present her with her patch. It wasn't enough somehow, to be so close to her, to know so well, be her friend. It would never be enough for him, and he wished to God that it was.

"Where'd you learn sutures Betts?" He had to push the thoughts away.

"I took a first aid class." She said, still tugging at his face

"And you say I'm a bad liar." He teased, more flirty than he wanted it to sound.

"You are a bad lair. If I tell you, you can't tell anyone else." She stopped and looked at him.

"Well, tell me." He prodded.

"My dad used to teach me. Said it was a skill I needed to have under my belt. Little did I know, it was all part of his sick game. Little did he know, it would come in handy." Huffing the loose strands from in front of her face, she really looked at the busted brow line. The fissure being sewn nice and taught, covering the raw bleeding mess it was once was. She wanted to hold the boy in her arms, soak the hurt into herself so she could see that it felt like what she endured. Wished so badly for a friend to share her misery.

No matter how much Jughead told her he understood, he didn't. Abandonment sure, they'd all endured that collectively. Offspring of the current leading generation of Serpents, everyone had an incarcerated or absent or God forbid dead, parent. The remaining Serpent's took care of each other and their kids. Betty brown up with Sweet Pea and Fangs, Jughead and Toni. They were an impenetrable group, tight like siblings.

"I guess we all come from shitty families." Chancing a peek at the girl stitching his skin, their eyes met. Dark meeting light, harsh meeting soft.

"Some are worse than others Sweets. Almost done." Her quick movements had her tying off the last stitch in his face. Clipping the thread, she set the clamps and scissors down on the open bag they came from. "It should heal up alright. I'll keep an eye on you." Smiling at him, she backed away slowly.

"Thanks Betts." His features soft, something she hardly ever seen from the boy anymore. It made her heart jump. One little blip in her chest, bringing forth a whole rush of emotion she wasn't expecting.

"You're welcome Sweet Pea. Now go, before you get yourself into trouble." Cleaning up the mess she'd made.

"I think I'm already in trouble baby girl."