Riverdale was quiet.

That was the most unnerving thing. Riverdale was quiet for the first time in a long time and all anyone could do was speculate as to where Betty and Cheryl had gone.

The story the first day they were gone was that they'd gone to spend a night in what remained of Thornhill and that, ominously, they hadn't come back.

Sunday, Betty and Cheryl had eloped, were living out the story Polly and Jason never got to. Veronica couldn't help but laugh at that one.

Monday, Veronica heard that Penelope Blossom had killed Cheryl and Betty had somehow seen too much and had to run. That one was unnervingly possible, and Veronica called Betty every half hour. Every half hour, she got a dial tone.

Tuesday and Cheryl had taken after her father and killed Betty, Betty buried somewhere far away and Cheryl on the run from the police.

Of course, all these stories dismissed the facts—the albeit questionable facts—that had been floating around town.

On Tuesday night, Veronica hosted Archie and Jughead and Kevin at the Pembrooke to try to formulate an action place.

Clearly, Betty wasn't coming home on her own.

"What do we know?" Archie asked. He was pacing, clearly unnerved by the seeing Betty's empty bedroom night after night.

"Betty and Cheryl are missing. And Betty claimed Saturday night that they were on the road together. But there's no way she'd actually just up and leave with Cheryl," Jughead spat out Cheryl's name with disdain.

"Has anyone heard from either of them since Saturday?" Archie asked.

Silence.

"No one's heard from Cheryl at all," Kevin began. "And nothing from Betty since Saturday night. But Ms. Blossom told my dad that her credit card was used Sunday night. In Ohio."

"What?"

"Ohio?"

"Holy shit, they really did take off together," Jughead breathed.

"What was it used for?" Archie asked.

"Groceries," Kevin answered. "Fruit, cereal, cold cuts. A lot of groceries."

"What, are they planning on staying in Ohio?" Archie demanded.

"No, hell no. Betty promised she'd be back," Veronica reasoned.

Everyone checked their phones again, absently sent another plea for Betty to reach out to them.

They sat back, collectively holding their breath, trying to fathom where their best friend could be, trying think up something they could possibly do.

And then, as if someone answered their very prayers, a phone went off.

Everyone fumbled to life, dug in their pockets, checked their screens. It was Jughead's.

"It's Betty," he said shakily. "It's Betty!"

"Well, answer it, dumbass!" Veronica said excitedly.

Click.

"Hello? Betty?"

"Put her on speakerphone," Kevin whispered.

Jughead obeyed.

"Jug. Hi. It's good to hear your voice." Betty.

"The very same to you, Cooper," Jughead started. "Are you—"

"Betty, are you okay?" Veronica called to the phone.

"Juggy, was that Veronica?" Betty asked.

"It was. Sorry. We're all here, actually. At the Pembrooke. I'm with Kevin and Archie and Veronica. What's, uh, what's happening here, Betty?"

"Okay…" Betty exhaled on the other end; Veronica could tell she was choosing her words carefully. "Okay, on Friday night, I was freaking out because of all the… stuff… that's happened lately. In Riverdale, in my family, hell, in my own head. And then Cheryl Blossom drives up and asks me if I want to get away and I realize I really can just get up and drive away from the town of Riverdale and it— It just sounded really appealing and I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize," Jughead said immediately. "We're not mad, we're just worried about you."

"No, I know, I'm just so sorry to put you guys through any stress."

"Why didn't you answer our texts and our calls earlier?" Archie sounded hurt. "It's been days."

"It's just been hard keeping my phone battery charged. I only just bought a charger to use now."

"Where are you?" Veronica asked.

"Just on the road—"

"No, I mean, like, where exactly?"

"Idaho," Betty confessed.

"Idaho?" everyone in the Pembrooke chorused.

"Betty, where in Idaho? Where exactly? What's the town, the address?" Veronica pressed.

"Why?"

"Because we need to know you're safe," Veronica said. "And also, of course, I'm flying out to get you."

"What? No," Betty stammered. "I can't let you do that. I'll be back soon, I promise. And—"

"Betty, you're obviously not well," Jughead said quietly. "Come home and we can talk and figure everything out together."

"Just tell me where you are," Veronica repeated.

There was silence, and then: "I'm at the Two Pence hotel in Idaho. And I'm safe and I'm fine and…" Betty was breathing hard on the other end; Veronica could barely stand it.

/

The nice thing about being a Lodge is that Lodges can do whatever they want whenever they want.

Boarding a last-minute plane to Idaho was one of those things not restricted to Veronica Lodge. Her mother had asked to come, but Veronica boarded alone in the end. Whether Hermione Lodge's desire to come with to find Betty had stemmed from wanting to keep the girls safe or from wanting a slice of the reward money Alice Cooper and Penelope Blossom had put forth, Veronica didn't know. In any case, Veronica figured her friend was more likely to talk to her one-on-one, so her mother obliged and bought a single plane ticket to Idaho.

Hopefully, they'd order at least two for the flight back to Riverdale.

The plane ride was agonizingly long, Veronica forgetting to breathe the stale cabin air and wondering if perhaps Betty had taken one of Veronica's lungs with her when she strode out of town with Cheryl Blossom.

The woman next to Veronica, who made casual small talk about the weather and her family back in Idaho, offered Veronica her pretzels and Veronica accepted.

She gratefully sucked on them as she recalled the last time she'd seen Betty. It had been far too long ago. At the time, Veronica had chosen to blame that on all the time the SoDale project and the battle versus the South Side had been costing her, but now she realized that Betty had probably been going through her own ordeals at the time.

She should have talked to Betty long ago.

Her stomach twisted with guilt and sodium as the plane finally began its descent.

/

The Two Pence hotel was aptly named; it was nothing fancy and certainly not a place a Lodge would be caught dead seen in. From outside in the moments before dawn, the hotel sank back into the sky, its only light spilling flickering yellow across the entryway. As she got closer, she saw that the single beam of light was swarming with moths and the interior of the hotel was coated with a modest layer of dust and grime.

The air was warm and stiff.

"I'm here to see a Betty Cooper," Veronica said to the middle-aged woman working behind the desk. "Can you tell me what room she's in?"

"We're really not supposed to disclose that information." Veronica had hoped a place like this didn't care about such rules, but she withdrew and called Betty.

"Hello?" Betty's voice was groggy with sleep and tinged with annoyance. "Who's this?"

"It's Veronica. I'm at the hotel."

"What?" Betty hissed, fully awake now. "You flew all the way to Idaho?"

"Of course. Come to the lobby."

"Veronica—"

"Come. To the lobby," Veronica repeated sternly and hung up. Her stomach was still in knots, she realized.

But Veronica had never felt such a flood of relief than when she spotted Betty's figure emerge from the hall in a cheap white robe, blonde hair tumbling down her shoulders.

Without thinking, Veronica rushed across the lobby and threw her arms around her best friend. Betty recoiled, tensed for a moment, then reciprocated.

"B, love, please tell me everything. Again."

Betty sighed, long and long-suffering. "Let's go for a walk."

The streets were damp; it had rained at some point when Veronica was on the plane, watching grey clouds below her. The city smelled of wet earth and fuel emissions, and Veronica waited patiently for Betty to start talking.

"Okay. So, I've been going through a lot lately. With the aftermath of the Black Hood. And my parents splitting up or whatever they're doing. And Chic. And…" Betty trailed off. "It's just really a lot and I was going crazy. I didn't want to stay at home or in that cursed town for a whole week have to deal with all that."

Veronica's lips trembled with a thousand questions, and she couldn't ignore a feeling of betrayal that her best friend had left town with the likes of Cheryl Blossom and not Veronica herself. She swallowed all that and just said, "I understand."

"The Black Hood… when he 'picked' me… Veronica, he said some awful things to me. Made me do awful things. And I don't even know who I am anymore. And if Chic is plotting something or if he's not dealing with everything inside of him in a good way… Veronica, I don't want to be like him. I don't want to be like the Black Hood. And I left because Cheryl approached me, but I don't know why. And I ended up getting in the car and driving with her all the way to Idaho."

"Cheryl. She's back in the hotel room?"

"She is. Sleeping."

"Girl, come back with me. I'll buy us plane tickets, call an Uber, we can get to the airport, and we can be back in Riverdale by this afternoon—"

"I don't know, V." Betty pawed at the ground. "I want to go home so, so badly. But I also don't. And I want to keep going with Cheryl. But I also don't. I want to be everywhere and nowhere all at once and I just don't know what's happening."

Veronica took Betty by her clenched hands. "Okay, Betty listen to my proposition: We go back to Riverdale. And we get you to talk to someone. And we can catch up over a dozen milkshakes and fries at Pop's. Just us, B and V."

"Come with us," Betty offered on impulse.

"Pardon me?"

"Come with us! We're driving up to the ocean just to see it. And you can come! Cheryl would be fine with it, I'm sure. She likes you. Probably more than me, at least. You should come with!"

"No, Betty," Veronica shook her head. "I can't just run off. I have things to do back in Riverdale. With my parents. And I am not getting sucked into that whirlpool of vile rumors."

"What are they saying about us?" Betty sounded almost amused.

"It doesn't matter." Veronica turned and took Betty by the hands. "I'm not leaving you, Betty. I'm not letting you leave."

Betty gave a wavering smile. "Thank you."

They made their way back to the hotel room in silence, not sure what to say, Veronica already tapping on her phone to get tickets. Betty swung back to the room, promised she'd talk to Cheryl about coming back, and then Veronica was alone outside, waiting. She leaned against the building, not wanting to go inside for the filth of the hotel would cramp her aesthetic. The exterior, though, at daybreak, streaked with rain, was more fitting the image of Veronica Lodge.

She was casting her eyes back and forth across the street, three tickets in her cart, waiting for Betty to see if she'd need the third, when she got a text from Betty.

I'm so, so sorry, V.

"She better freaking not have," Veronica yelled to her phone before storming inside.

"Did Betty Cooper check out?" Veronica asked the woman behind the counter.

"Just moments ago," the woman confirmed.

A thousand hot regrets rushed through her heart and into her blood. All Veronica could do was put her head back and try not to ruin her Christian Dior mascara.

/

A/N: So this chapter was sort of a break from Cheryl and Betty's storyline to see how everyone else in Riverdale is reacting to their disappearance. Mostly they just can't keep their mouths shut.

Also: wow. Those last two episodes... all the Cheryl/Toni... I'm floored and elated.