"Archie." She whispered, her lips only inches away from his own. "I'm putting myself in your hands."

He squeezed his eyes shut.

This was wrong, he knew it, and somewhere deep down, she probably did too, but that was the thing about temptation, and desire. When something was forbidden, you only wanted it more.

"Miss. Grundy..." Archie began, leaning closer, if that was even possible.

Just as they were about to kiss, footsteps rushed past the closed door. He pulled away from her as if she were on fire, determination quickly filling him.

"What's wrong?" Miss. Grundy demanded.

"Someone saw us." He whispered, afraid to speak too loudly.

Her eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

Without a reply, Archie grabbed his bag and ran out of the room. He wouldn't let the Peeping Tom get away, not when Miss. Grundy's, not to mention his own, reputation was on the line.

"Archie!" She called after him.

He ignored her, turning the corner, but the hallway was clear of any potential creepers. Archie raked a hand through his hair in confusion. Where could they have possibly gone?

He spun on his heel, ready to retrace his steps.

Instead, he bumped into the all too familiar girl next door, sending her possessions scattering across the recently polished tile.

"Archie!" Betty snapped.

"Sorry." Archie muttered, dropping to his knees. He began to gather the mess of papers, pens and lip gloss when something caught his eye.

Betty noticed too.

"Arch..." She began, reaching for the container.

He beat her to it, snatching it from the floor and carefully rising, holding it well out of her reach.

"Betty."

"Archie." Betty said again.

Archie regarded her coldly. "I thought you stopped."

"I did."

"Bullshit, Betty." He challenged, shaking his head. "You wouldn't have this if you were telling the truth."

Betty dropped her gaze. "My mom has been refilling the prescription."

Archie mentally cursed himself for not being able to tell if she was lying or not. Jughead had always been able to call her out on it, and he had, often.

Betty Cooper knew how to keep a straight face, and yet, Jughead saw through her perfected mask, breaking down her walls, coaxing her to tell the whole truth and nothing but.

"Betty."

"She gave it to me this morning." She admitted. "She doesn't trust me anymore."

"What have you been doing with the pills?" He demanded.

"Flushing them." Betty replied.

She was looking him in the eye now, a good sign that she was being one-hundred percent truthful.

Archie sighed. "Do you promise-"

"Arch." She held up a hand to cut him off. "I don't want to go through that again."

No one else knew, not even Veronica, who was just as close, if not more so at times, to the golden haired girl as Archie was.

Sometimes, he wondered if she would have still been taking them had he not found out and intervened at the beginning of the previous year.

She had been under pressure, he understood that. She was Betty Cooper, and everyone expected her to be perfect.

Even she strived to be, but as she took on the commitment of being a River Vixen under the harsh and grueling rule of resident 'It Girl' Cheryl Blossom, the difficult task of being the best writer the Blue and Gold had ever had, everyone had thought so, as well as scoring the lead role in Kevin's latest musical, followed closely by the unexpected separation, and later divorce of her parents, she had begun to slip, and no one, even himself, at least not at first, had seemed to notice.

It started with weight loss, not that she had needed to drop any, Betty had always been a twig. Suddenly, her clothes barely fit, and she had had to get a new Vixen uniform for a few months until she gained five pounds. She had stopped eating three times a day, often skipping breakfast and dinner. She had nearly fallen from the top of the pyramid after becoming dizzy during the halftime routine.

And then, she had stopped sleeping.

The dark circles under her eyes seemed permanent, and no amount of makeup, both Cheryl and Veronica had tried, had been able to hide them. It was only after he found her passed out in a booth at Pop's did he realize that something was truly wrong.

So, he'd carried her home, he was still thankful Alice had been at some weekend retreat for female writers, waited until she woke up, nearly two hours later, and then, he had written her a new one, screaming, yelling, demanding, pleading, until tears streamed down her cheeks, and she agreed to give him the pills she had left.

Archie had flushed them, and that had been the end of it.

They had barely spoken of it afterwards.

Now, he was wondering if he should have talked to her about it more, if he should have listened instead of confronting her.

"What are you doing here so late?" Betty asked, her voice snapping him back to reality.

"I... Um..." Archie blinked. "I had to talk to Miss. Grundy... You weren't outside the music room a few minutes ago, were you?"

"No." She answered, without hesitation, and this time he knew she was telling him the truth. "I was in the Blue and Gold office until about thirty seconds ago. Why?"

He shook his head. "Never mind. Um... Can I give you a ride home?"

"If it's not out of your way." Betty teased.

Archie laughed a little too loudly, his hand pressing into her shoulder as he led her towards the parking lot.

"I hope all this practice with Miss. Grundy is paying off." Betty told him, dropping down into the passenger seat. "I feel like you're always practicing, Arch."

"Yeah..." Archie replied. "I know, and I'm sorry, Betty... I just..."

His phone buzzed twice, a most welcome distraction.

Betty pulled her hair from its usual ponytail, her curls framing her face.

"Who's that?" She asked with a laugh. "Your girlfriend?"

Archie stared down at the screen for a moment.

"No." He muttered. "My dad. He wants takeout. Do you mind if we stop by Pop's?"

"Only if you're buying."

He didn't answer with some teasing remark like he usually did, too engrossed in the second message.

Please. It read. Protect us both.

Don't tell anyone.