Chapter Thirteen : Closed Book

Veronica watched Archie leave with a face twisted with agony and suspense. She looked around the hospital, eyes narrowed. It felt lonely and dark, despite all the lights in the room.

"Veronica, I came as soon as I could... you poor thing..."

The young woman looked up at her mother, who had rushed in with a distressed look. "I'm fine," Veronica started and offered a distracted smile. Relief washed over the Latina in her mother's presence.

"No, you're not…" Hermione frowned and sat on the edge of the hospital bed.

Veronica felt her eye twitch in annoyance and sat up. Barely suppressing a flinch in agony and pain, she rubbed her forehead and swallowed her annoyance. How did her mother always know how she felt?

"Mom, I need you to listen to me…" she whispered quietly. She barely suppressed the urge to grimace at the idea of needing help.

Hermione narrowed her eyes in concern and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Tell me how soon I can get out of this hospital? I hate it here," Veronica half-joked, voice strained. Hermione smiled lightly.

"Soon,"

Betty kept her head ducked slightly as she walked down the sidewalk. Her hands were shoved inside her jean pockets and she adjusted the Serpent jacket she was wearing.

"I've got to go visit Veronica," the young woman murmured.

Jughead turned his gaze to Betty, eyes narrowed with disbelief. "Don't act like I didn't read that note too," he sighed, rubbing his temple.

Betty sucked in a breath and shut her eyes tightly. "Jug, you read the note. You know what I have to do…" She whispered and Jughead stepped forward as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Betty barely managed to pacify her PTSD at the sudden touch. "I'm never going to be the same…"

"Betts, don't think like that…" Jughead sighed shakily and Betty looked at him with an apathetic expression.

"I love you, and I'm sorry…" Betty started, looking at the fading ambulance truck. Once it was out of view, Betty looked at his trailer. She narrowed her eyes, "Is that…" she trailed off, adding worry to her tone.

As she suspected, Jughead glanced behind him and looked at the trailer. "What?" he asked. In the moments he wasn't looking at her, Betty scrambled away, running behind a trailer. Once hidden from Jughead's view, she took a deep breath and raced away.

Jughead called after her, "Betty!"

"I'm sorry!" Betty called over her shoulder as she ran.

Betty shook her head, clearing the memory from her mind. She loved him, and she needed to keep him safe no matter what. Unshed tears stung her eyes as she entered the cemetery.

The graves planted neatly in the ground made Betty's stomach twist. It was summer, the warm breeze blowing against her face and ruffling through her hair. When she gave Chic to the Black Hood, it had been winter. It was hard to believe that everything had happened only five months ago.

"Jughead let you choose yourself?" Betty winced at the voice and turned around.

Chic was looking at her with a dark sneer. Betty felt the hairs on her neck stand up and she rubbed her shoulders. "He doesn't know,"

"Ah, of course," Chic stepped forward and the young woman glanced at his jacket. His right hand was in his pocket, with a gun.

Betty raised her chin slightly and narrowed her eyes. "You've gone downhill," she commented, not breaking her mask and not showing how scared she was.

"It's been so long hasn't it?" Chic answered simply and looked out in the distance.

Everything seemed so serene, so calm. The moonlight offered its rays, moonlight glistening on the gravestones. Betty kept her gaze on Chic, not looking away even though he had turned away from her.

"So why the hesitation?" Betty growled, fighting her rage. If she was going down, she would take him with her.

Chic pulled the gun from his pocket looked at it as if examining it. Betty squared her shoulders, panic thudding in her chest.

I love you, Jughead… Betty thought and closed her eyes tightly.

Bang...

Bang...

Jughead felt his hands shaking, Betty had left not even thirty minutes ago, and he felt so useless. He fell into the couch with a defeated and angry breath.

"Hey, Betty?" Jughead asked as the two were sitting together on Betty's bed.

He had his arm around her and she leaned into his chest, looking conflicted. "Yeah?" she asked simply. Betty sat up straight and tightened her ponytail. Jughead kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, which she invited despite her confusion.

"What happened… with Chic?"

Betty tensed and was silent for a moment. "He left, he's gone. Does anything else matter?"

Jughead pulled away from the hug to look at Betty closer. She looked back into his gaze, not en the slightest bit unsettled by his questioning look.

"Please?" The young man pleaded and Betty blinked, looking at her room's wall.

"I took him to… to the cemetery… and gave him to the Black Hood," Betty finally answered and Jughead was quiet, in case she went into more detail.

She didn't. Instead, she kissed him on the lips and stood up. "He's gone, that's all that matters."

Jughead felt the memory race through him and he sucked in a breath. Pulling out his phone as he threw open the trailer door. The remaining fragments of Fred's truck still scattered in the opening. Jughead ignored the wreck as he got on his bike, fastening his helmet quickly.

"Archie," Jughead started when the young man answered immediately.

"Yeah, Jug? Where are you? I'm on my way over now…"

"No, go to the cemetery… Betty's there," The Serpent King whispered as he tore away on his bike after hanging up.

In less than a minute, he was on the road and breaking the speed limit, practically going double what the limit was.

"Slow down, Jones!" Chuck called out in a parked car on the side of the road. Jughead ignored him, increasing the car speed. His hands burned from his death grip on the handles and his hair whipped across his face. Still, the pain seemed so distant that Jughead pressed on.

Once he reached Riverdale, he slowed down slightly, weaving through the small amount of traffic to the cemetery.

Almost… there… Jughead thought, hope tightening around his heart.

Bang…

Bang…

Jughead heard the gunshots and the color in his face left in a flash. Reaching the cemetery, he parked the bike and raced into the graved field. If Betty was dead… Jughead pushed the thought away.

Racing through the field of graves, Jughead stopped when he saw blood, and a body crumpled on the ground.

"No, go to the cemetery… Betty's there,"

Then Jughead had hung up, leaving Archie at a loss for words. "Dammit, Chic," he growled. That monster had caused enough grief. Turning around, Archie ran down the sidewalk, towards the cemetery.

It was a place that nobody ever really visited, at times Archie even forgot Riverdale had a cemetery. Remembering all the deaths recently, Archie frowned and shook his head.

Riverdale, the town once full of safety, full of love… his Riverdale. Now it was the place traveling websites say to stay very clear of.

The gun in Archie's bag felt so heavy, he wasn't sure if he really wanted another death to take place in the town. Then he thought back to how long Betty had missing, what she had gone through, what Chic had put everybody through. The freak deserved to die.

Archie pushed onwards, running faster.

When he saw the cemetery in the distance, he narrowed his eyes. His lungs throbbed but he was, and he thanked the fact that he was well built.

Bang…

Bang…

Archie stopped as if a wall had appeared suddenly to hinder him from going to Betty. The young man blinked slightly, his mouth had gone dry and the color drained from his face. In a flash, his shock was gone and he raced forward. Sprinting now, he covered twice the distance he had been.

When he saw Jughead entering the cemetery as well, with a lost, concerned, angry look Archie hurried over.

About to say something to Jughead, Archie followed the Serpent's gaze. On the lush hill near the graves, Betty stood over a limp body.

Betty lowered the gun, looking at it with a look of sheer surprise. She had brought her gun, but she hadn't expected to really use it. It was just- at the moment- with Chic rambling on she couldn't take it.

"Betty!" Jughead gasped and the young woman turned to look at her boyfriend with a relieved gaze.

Every muscle in her relaxed at the sight of him. She dropped the gun in the grass beside Chic's body and ran into Jughead's arms. In the corner of her eyes, she saw Archie staring at the body on the ground.

"I didn't kill him," Betty began and Jughead looked into her eyes. "I shot him in the spinal cord twice…" she added after a moment. The two young men still looked unsure. She didn't blame them after all, Chic was bleeding so greatly and he looked dead. "Once to get him to stop talking, a second time because of what he has done to me.

"It shouldn't kill him. I'll call an ambulance. It'll be a hell of a hospital bill for him to pay and he'll be paralyzed from the waist down, but he'll live. "

Archie pulled out his phone and Betty assumed he was calling an ambulance.

Betty looked back to Jughead, into his warm eyes. A smile flickered across the Serpents face and he kissed her softly. "I love you, you know that right?" he asked and she smiled softly.

"You won't let me forget," the young women smirked before looking down at Chic's body. Grief flooded her gaze and she adjusted her Serpent jacket. "Can we leave?"

"I'd like that," Jughead sighed, casting a dark shadowy look at the limp body. "What are you going to tell everyone?"

"Self defense," she answered easily and held onto his hand. "Come on," she whispered, walking him out of the cemetery. She knew Archie was going to stay until the ambulance got there, but she wouldn't.

For all she cared, Chic could die. Rotting in a cell just didn't seem like a good enough penalty for his crimes. Then she frowned, sighing shakily. Her father had practically said those exact same words once. Betty pursed her lips and kept her gaze trained on the ground. Blood freckled her shoes.

"Betts…" Jughead started, putting his hand on his shoulder and getting her to face him. "You did the best thing you could've done in that scenario…" When she didn't make eye contact he sighed and put his forehead to hers. "You're not your father."

Betty felt warm, comforted in Jughead's presence.

"You're right. I'm not," Jughead narrowed his eyes, knowing she was going to continue. "And this chapter of our lives… we're ending it right now." Betty finished, voice strong with emotion.

Jughead looked in her eyes, and he could see the love, the hate, the warmth, the cold glow in her eyes. Then she kissed him, warm and affectionate.

But once opened, can a book ever truly be completely forgotten?

"That's all you can do in this world, no matter how strong the current beats against you, or how heavy your burden, or how tragic your love story. You keep going."

Robyn Schneider

A/N: There it is! Finished! I would've done an epilogue but since there will be a book two, I can't. Review what you would want to see in the book two and what I could improve on as a writer. The new book will be called "Acquiesce, A Riverdale Mystery (Bughead)" Thank you so much for reading my book and all the reviews. Your guys' support means everything to me! ^^