Archie takes all his things with him to Veronica's. He's expecting it to go well then. Good.
Betty waits for her mom to get home and then takes the car to Jughead's. She's terrified of how he'll react when she tells him about what happened with Archie that night.
He's pleased to see her at first, but his smile turns to a look of concern when he sees Betty's expression. FP seems to sense they need privacy and makes himself scarce.
Jughead lets Betty inside. She can barely look at him.
"What's going on?" he asks.
"I have to tell you something," Betty says. "Before you hear it from someone else."
"Shit," Jughead groans. "Please don't say you cheated on me—"
"No!" Betty hastens to assure him. "I didn't cheat, I promise."
Jughead breathes a sigh of relief, nodding. He sits himself on the couch. Betty stays standing, pacing in front of him.
She takes a deep breath. "When you and I were broken up… the night Archie and I caught the Black Hood…" she swallows. "He and I…"
Jughead shakes his head, looking angry. "You guys had sex?"
"No!" Betty says. God, he keeps jumping to the wrong conclusions. Then again, she isn't doing a great job of this. "We just kissed. But Cheryl saw us and she told Veronica that we had sex. But we didn't, I swear."
Jughead considers this. "It was just a kiss?"
Betty scrunches her face up as if in pain. "There may have been some… touching," she cringes.
"Touching?" Jughead sounds disgusted. "For fuck's sake Betty, that could mean anything!" He stands up. "What? You gave him a hand job? He felt your tits up a bit?"
"Jug, please," Betty says, on the verge of tears. "What does it matter? It was just that one night, we were both scared out of our minds! You and I were broken up and I just… I needed someone, okay? And Archie was there."
Jughead's mouth forms a thin line and his jaw ticks. He's still angry, but he's listening. "So it meant nothing?"
Betty hesitates. "Of course," she lies.
Jughead groans. "Why wouldn't you tell me about this? I told you about Toni. You could've told me then."
"I know! I know," Betty says. "I just… I thought it would complicate things. I didn't want you to hate me or Archie. After what you said today…"
"I know I was acting weird today," Jughead sighs. "I'm sorry. But you should've told me, and we could have worked past this already. What you did with Archie is no worse than what I did with Toni."
Betty swallows. "So… you'll forgive me?"
Jughead shrugs. "I don't want to lose you," he says.
"I love you," Betty says quietly. Because whatever she's done, whatever else she feels, at least that is still true.
Jughead smiles reluctantly. "I know," he says. He pulls her into a hug. Betty wraps her arms around him and holds him tight. She should feel comforted. Relieved that he's willing to forgive her. Instead she just feels cold.
She doesn't hear from Archie that night, so she assumes he worked things out with Veronica. She spends the night with Jughead, and FP doesn't come home. Probably spent the night with her mom. They've been spending a lot of time together since Alice kicked Hal out for good.
Betty doesn't fall asleep easily that night, but when she does, she dreams of Archie again.
It's not a nightmare this time, or anything particularly dirty. She dreams that he loves her, and that he's holding her and that they're planning a life together.
She wakes with a start, heart pounding, as if it was a nightmare or a dirty dream.
Betty glances at Jughead, snoring softly beside her. She reaches for her phone and checks the time. 1:31am. Carefully, she slides out of bed and walks outside, sitting on the front steps of the trailer. She dials Archie's number.
He picks up on the third ring.
"Betty?" he whispers, his voice croaky. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Betty says softly. "I just needed to talk to you."
He's silent for a moment. "Just give me a sec."
She waits in silence for thirty seconds until he speaks again.
"Okay," he says, still whispering. "Sorry, Veronica's in the next room."
Betty tries not to feel jealous. "How did things go?"
"She yelled a lot. She's not happy I didn't tell her, but she's willing to forgive me since it happened when we were broken up," Archie says. "Did you talk to Jughead?"
"Yeah."
"And?"
"Pretty much the same as you," Betty says.
"Are you with him now?"
Betty wonders if she imagines the jealousy in his voice.
"I'm at his trailer. He's inside."
"Does he know you're talking to me?"
Betty shakes her head, though she knows he can't see her. "Do you think he'd be mad?"
Archie sighs. "I think if Ronnie walked in here now and heard me talking to you she'd be suspicious."
"So we're just supposed to not be friends anymore?"
"I think we just need to spend some time apart to let them cool off. They'll forgive and forget eventually," Archie says.
Betty feels sick at the thought. She doesn't want to spend any time apart from Archie. They fall into silence.
"Arch…" Betty says, and for some reason her voice cracks. She's scared to ask, but she has to know. "Do you want to be with me?"
Archie is silent for too long. She shouldn't have asked. She should have kept her mouth shut.
"Yes," he says eventually. "Yes, Betty."
Betty isn't sure if her heart is breaking or expanding. She can't breathe.
"And you…?" Archie asks, his voice low, hesitant. "Do you want to be with me?"
"Yes," Betty whimpers.
Archie groans. "God, this is so fucked up."
Betty lets out a sob. She brings her fingers to her eye and they come away wet. She hadn't even realised she'd been crying.
"Hey, hey," Archie says, quick to comfort her. "Don't cry. Don't cry when I can't be there to comfort you."
"It's okay, Arch," Betty says. "I don't even know why I'm crying."
Except she does. She's in love with him. More in love with him than ever. And she can never be with him without hurting two other people she loves.
She wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
"I'm sorry I called," she says.
"Never be sorry for that."
"I guess I'll see you at school on Monday," Betty says.
"Yeah," Archie agrees.
There's nothing else to say. She hangs up. She sits there for a moment before a voice startles her.
"Was that him?" Jughead asks. Betty turns to see him standing in the doorway. How long has he been there?
"Yeah," Betty says. No sense in lying about that. "I was just checking if he made up with Veronica. He says she forgave him."
"That's good," Jughead says. Betty can't tell if he believes her or not, but he doesn't say anything else. He just turns and walks back inside. Betty gives herself a minute to collect herself before she follows.
Betty returns home on Sunday. She drives Jughead to her place so he can pick up his bike, and then he leaves.
Betty's stomach hasn't stopped churning since her phone call to Archie last night.
He wants to be with her. She wants to be with him. So what the fuck are they doing with other people? They're only making themselves and their partners miserable. Are they only staying with Jughead and Veronica out of some messed up sense of responsibility they feel? Some debt they feel they owe to their partners because they were once in love?
And that's the thing. Betty doesn't think she is in love with Jughead anymore. Sure, she loves him. But she doesn't want to be with him. And she can't keep stringing him along just because she's scared to hurt him. That will only hurt him more in the long run.
Betty is sitting on Archie's front steps when he gets back from Veronica's. He slows when he sees her, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallows.
"I thought we agreed we shouldn't see each other for a while," Archie says uncertainly.
Betty shakes her head. She stands up. "I don't want to do that."
Archie looks pained. "Betty—" he cuts himself off with a sigh. "Do you think I want to? But you told me to fix things with Veronica. And you've fixed things with Jughead. Let's not torture ourselves."
"Archie, you told me last night you want to be with me," Betty says. "Is that true?"
Archie nods once. Betty tilts her head. Archie looks pained, as if he's trying to solve a particularly hard math problem.
"Betty," he says. "I love you, but—"
"You love me?" Betty interrupts. Her heart hammers in her chest. Did she hear him correctly?
Archie stares at her. "Yes, Betty," he says quietly. "I love you. I am so in love with you."
Betty feels like she might cry. She feels like she's waited a lifetime for him to say those words, and mean them the way she wants him to mean them.
"But what about Veronica and Jughead? This would kill them," he says.
"I know," Betty whispers. She swallows. "But not being with you—that will kill me."
Archie looks into her eyes, uncertain. "Fuck," he says. "Okay."
"Okay?"
Archie nods. "Yes, let's do this," he says.
"Okay."
"But we're going to have to be really careful about how we go about it," Archie says.
"I know. I'll go first," Betty says. "Then you wait however long you think you need to until Veronica won't suspect it's because I've ended things with Jughead."
Archie nods. "We'll have to keep it a secret for a while."
"We can do that."
"I hate all this lying," Archie sighs.
"Me too," Betty says. "But we have to lie, or we'll hurt them even more."
"I know," Archie nods.
"Okay," Betty says. "I'm going now."
Archie swallows. "Let him down gently," he says.
"I will," Betty says. She leans in and presses a kiss against his cheek. She turns to go. She's halfway across the lawn before she turns back to him. "I love you too, you know," she calls back. She leaves Archie smiling on the front porch.
Breaking up with Jughead is easier than it should be.
Betty goes straight back to his trailer after she leaves Archie. She knows Jughead is going to suspect she's breaking up with him because there's something going on with Archie. She has to make him believe that's not true.
He lets her in, and they sit on the couch. Can he tell she's holding her breath?
"Jug—" she starts. "I don't think we should be together anymore." She glances at him. He looks angry, but not surprised.
"It's because of Archie, isn't it?" he snorts.
"No, Jug, I swear," Betty lies. She's never been a great liar, but she hopes she can get through this one. "There's nothing between me and Archie. He's with Veronica."
"Right," Jughead says flatly. "Then why?"
"It's not that I don't love you—"
"Don't do that, Betty," Jughead snaps.
"Do what?"
"Pretend you love me while you break my heart."
"But I do."
"I did nothing but love you, Betty," Jughead says angrily. "And now you want to throw all that away? Why? Give me one good reason."
"I just need some time on my own," Betty says. Another lie. "And you've got the serpents, and I don't know if I can be a part of that anymore. And then there's my mom and your dad getting together, which makes things weird…"
"All of that is a load of bullshit," Jughead says. "None of that would matter if you really loved me. So just admit it. You don't love me."
"Jug—"
"Say it!"
"Fine," Betty says, her voice shaking. She hates it when he yells at her. Tears prick the corners of her eyes. "I don't love you anymore."
"Good," Jughead says flippantly. "Now get the fuck out."
Betty flees.
