At some point, they leave Archie's room to find some food. There's leftover Chinese food in the fridge and they carry it back upstairs before Fred can come home and catch them half naked in the kitchen.
Betty loses count of how many orgasms Archie has given her, and eventually they tire themselves out and settle for whispering in the dark, wrapped up in Archie's sheets and each other until they fall asleep.
Betty wakes on Saturday morning, well-rested but still a little lethargic. She looks over at Archie lying next to her, still asleep. She watches the gentle rise and fall of his chest, smiling softly.
She should probably feel guilty. She just feels loved up, and deliriously happy.
Betty places a hand on Archie's chest and he stirs as she traces circles across his chest with her fingertip. She kisses his shoulder, and then leans over further so she can kiss his chest. She can see him smile, so she knows he's awake, but he keeps his eyes shut.
Betty smirks to herself, and pulls away the sheets to reveal his erection.
"What are you doing?" Archie murmurs.
"Waking you up," Betty replies. She wriggles down the bed so her head is level with his crotch, and places a kiss on his hip bone. She looks up at him. His eyes are open now and his pupils are blown. "May I?"
Archie nods, swallowing thickly. Betty kisses the tip of his hard cock and feels it twitch beneath her lips. She runs her tongue along the underside of his length, then swirls it around the head. Archie whimpers and Betty feels a pang between her legs. She licks his cock again, then puts her mouth over the tip. She takes him into her mouth slowly, wanting to take his whole cock inside her mouth, but unsure she'll be able to.
She gags when his cock hits the back of her throat and he strokes her hair soothingly.
"You're doing so good, Betty," he says. He must sense that she's not exactly experienced at this, and his words reassure her. "That feels so good."
Betty hums against him and he gives a small groan, spurring her on. Archie cards his fingers through her hair as she bobs her head up and down on his cock, using her tongue to make him moan her name.
She can tell he's holding back, letting her lead the way when he's obviously desperate thrust his hips and speed up the pace.
"Betty," he moans, sounding wrecked. A thrill goes through her. She doesn't think she'll ever tire of hearing him say her name like that. "Betty, I'm gonna come," he warns her. "Can I come in your mouth?"
"Mmhmm," Betty answers, and Archie grips onto her hair, jerking his hips to her face and his orgasm hits him. His come spurts into her mouth and Betty swallows the hot liquid with ease.
Archie lets her go, panting heavily, and Betty wriggles back up the bed to lie beside him. Archie wraps his arm around her and pulls her close so they're face to face.
"You didn't have to do that," he says.
"I wanted to," Betty says. "I liked it."
"Yeah?" Archie seems surprised. His free arm rests between them, and he toys with Betty's nipple absently. Betty however, is hyper aware of it, the tingling between her legs growing stronger. She squirms, pressing her legs together tightly. Archie grins. Perhaps he's not as unaware of what he's doing as Betty thought.
"Are you teasing me?" Betty asks.
"Maybe."
He stops playing with her nipple and drops his hand between her legs, cupping her mound with his whole hand before sliding a finger between her folds. He fingers her until she comes, watching her the whole time.
Both satisfied, Archie wraps Betty up in his arms, as if he can't bear to have any space between them for even a second. Betty smiles lazily, stroking the back of his hand with her fingers. She feels like they're in the own little bubble, as if the outside world doesn't exist. It's just the two of them, and that's all that matters. She doesn't ever want to leave the bubble.
"Arch?"
"Mmm?"
"What are your plans today?" Betty asks.
"Staying here with you," Archie says. Betty likes the sound of that.
"Even though your dad is probably home by now?"
Betty feels Archie smile against her shoulder. "We don't have to have sex," he says. "We can just hang out. Watch a movie or something. I'll play you your song."
"My song?"
"The one I wrote a few weeks ago," Archie reminds her. Betty's stomach flips over, and she can't help but smile. It was about her after all.
"I should go home and shower," Betty says.
"You can shower here," Archie says.
"Together?" Betty asks, grinning.
Archie laughs. "Just can't get enough, can you?" he says.
Living in the bubble with Archie is good. Betty feels on top of the world as they shower and get dressed, and head downstairs for breakfast, where Fred has made pancakes.
Archie suggests a Harry Potter marathon, and the three of them settle into the lounge room, Betty and Archie on the couch and Fred in an armchair. It's kind of like old times, except now Archie has his arm around her and she's snuggled into his side.
Fred leaves towards the end of the first movie, not one to be able to sit down and be idle for too long, but Betty and Archie stay and put the second movie on, and then the third one. As the credits roll for the Prisoner of Azkaban, Betty looks to Archie to see if he wants to start Goblet of Fire, but she finds he's fallen asleep.
She tries to gently extricate herself from his arms, but the movement jolts him awake.
"Sorry," she whispers.
"Did I fall asleep?" Archie yawns.
Betty nods. "I think I wore you out."
Archie chuckles and presses a soft kiss to her lips. Betty feels her phone vibrating and she reaches for it, her lips still presses against Archie's. She has to pull away to look at the screen, and her stomach plummets when she sees who is calling.
Veronica. The bubble bursts, and reality comes hurtling in. Betty glances at Archie. He's as white as a ghost.
Betty answers.
"Hey, V," she says lightly. "What's up." Veronica is silent for a moment. "V?" Betty prompts, her heart pounding, a sick feeling in her stomach.
She hears Veronica sob, and her heart cracks in two.
"Betty?" Veronica says, her voice stained with tears. "Will you come over? Archie—" she sobs again. "Archie broke up with me."
In that moment, Betty has never hated herself more. "Of course, V. I'll be right there."
Betty ends the call and looks to Archie. She doesn't have to ask him what he's feeling, it's written all over his face. It's the exact same thing as Betty is feeling.
Sheer terror and undeniable guilt.
Betty makes a quick stop at home to get changed before she heads to Veronica's. Alice and FP are talking in the living room, and Betty tries to sneak past.
"Elizabeth!" Alice calls, and Betty knows she's in trouble. She stops and pokes her head into the living room. "Where have you been?" Alice asks, disapproving.
Betty glances at FP. The last thing she needs is FP running home to Jughead and telling him she spent the night at Archie's.
"Can we talk about this later, Mom?" Betty says. "Veronica is really upset and she needs me."
"You can tell me where you were all night and all day right now, or you're not going anywhere," Alice says.
Betty groans inwardly. "I was just hanging out with Archie."
"Next time you can at least call or text me to tell me where you are," Alice says.
Betty wants to argue, but she doesn't want to run the risk of being grounded and not being allowed to go to Veronica's, so she just nods and heads upstairs. Her mother can't have been too worried about her, Betty doesn't have any texts or missed calls from her.
As soon as Betty has changed her clothes, she grabs her mom's car keys and heads to the Pembrooke.
Andre lets Betty inside, and she makes her way to Veronica's room.
"V?" Betty calls, knocking hesitantly on the bedroom door. Moments later, Veronica wrenches the door open and throws her arms around Betty.
Betty wraps her arms around Veronica and rubs her back soothingly as Veronica sobs into her shoulder.
"I can't stop crying," Veronica says quietly.
"It's okay," Betty says. "Let's go sit down."
Veronica nods and pulls away, leading Betty into her room where they sit on the bed. Veronica wipes her eyes, red rimmed and watery. Her cheeks are stained with tears and she's wearing her silk pyjamas. Still beautiful, but looking worse for wear.
"I'm so pathetic," Veronica sniffles. "Crying over boys is so last century."
"You're allowed to be sad," Betty says.
Veronica nods and bursts into a fresh round of tears. Betty puts her arms around her again.
"I didn't think it would wreck me this much, you know?" Veronica says through her tears. She pulls out of Betty's arms to reach for a tissue. "I told him I was fine, that I saw it coming. And I was at first, and I didn't want him to feel guilty, because I know my family is hard to be around, and he deserves so much better, but… I just really miss him."
"I know," Betty says.
Veronica lies down and Betty lies down next to her. Veronica takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
"And then Time After Time came on the radio earlier and I just… started crying. I didn't even know why at first."
A lone tear escapes the corner of Veronica's eye.
"I love him so much, B," she says, her voice shaking. "I even thought about asking him to take me back. I never loved anyone before. What if I never love anyone again?"
Betty remains silent. It's too much. Everything Veronica is saying just fills her stomach with dread. The guilt is too much to bear. It almost makes her confess everything. But she can't. That would only make it worse. If Veronica is a mess now, after losing Archie, finding out what Betty has done would shatter her completely.
Betty swallows. "Of course you will, V," she whispers. "This isn't your only love. It's just your first love. You're going to find someone else who loves you so much more than Archie ever could, and you'll forget all about him."
Veronica gives her a watery smile, and Betty wishes her words were completely selfless.
"So will you," Veronica says. "You'll find someone too. Someone who will make Jughead become a distant memory."
Betty swallows the guilt she feels, because she has to lie, and nod, when the truth is she already has.
Betty spends the night at Veronica's, remembering to text her mom this time. By morning, Veronica has stopped crying at least, even if she hasn't stopped yearning for Archie. Betty knows the feeling all too well.
As she leaves the Pembrooke and makes her way home, she tries to push away her guilt, and the question that keeps niggling away at her mind: was it worth it?
Is her own happiness really worth the pain she's putting Veronica through? Have she and Archie made a mistake?
She gets home and flops down on her bed, feeling exhausted. She didn't get much sleep last night. Guilt does that to a person. Instead she'd stayed awake and listened to Veronica weep through the night.
Archie appears in her room five minutes later. He must have been waiting for her. He lies down beside her and Betty cuddles up to him, nuzzling into his chest.
"How was she?" Archie asks.
Betty exhales. "Pretty messed up," she admits. "She cried all night."
"Fuck," Archie mutters. "I feel awful."
"Me too. Do you think Jughead cried?"
"Probably."
"He never talked to you about it?"
"Not really."
Archie is silent for a moment as he strokes her hair. She doesn't know if he's doing it on purpose to soothe her or whether it's subconscious, but either way it's comforting.
"Betty…" Archie starts. "Are we terrible people? Did we do the wrong thing?"
Betty sits up, propping herself up on his chest. She looks him in the eyes and shakes her head.
"No," she says vehemently. And maybe she'd been wondering the same thing, but she can't bear to hear Archie say it out loud. "If we stayed with them we'd be unhappy. And if we weren't together we'd be unhappy."
"What if that's what I deserve?" It's not really a question. He says it like he really believes he deserves to be unhappy.
"Arch," Betty says, her heart breaking for him. "Don't ever think that. We're allowed to be happy. We deserve to be happy." She kisses him, and he kisses her back. "I love you," she says.
"I love you too."
