"B." Veronica whispered, catching hold of her arm. She pulled her several feet away from the rest of their teammates.

"What is it, V?" Betty asked tiredly.

She was exhausted, and she looked it. Cheryl had been yelling at her the entire two and a half hours, telling her to perk up, or else.

"I really need to talk." She admitted, pulling the blue and gold bow she always wore during practice, she swore it was lucky, from her hair. "Do you think we could go to Pop's, just you and me?"

Betty shot her best friend a sympathetic look. She was sure the impending conversation would have to do with Reggie; things were somehow even more strained between the pair.

"Of course, V." She squeezed the raven haired girl's hand. "I'll wait for you outside, okay? Take your time."

Veronica actually let out a sigh of relief. "I love you, B."

"I love you too, V."

Offering her one last encouraging grin, she pressed her shoulder into the wood of the locker room door, pushing it open. As she made her way down the hall, she allowed her curls to fall free from her own pony tail, running her fingers through her blonde tresses.

She scanned the parking lot, searching for Archie's car and she was grateful when she saw that he had already left for the night. Had he seen her and Veronica leaving together, he would have offered them a ride home, and when he found out they were going to Pop's, he would have tried to join them without invitation, and there would have been no time for one of their famous talks.

The last thing Archie wanted to hear about was Veronica's boy troubles.

The moment Betty stepped outside, she was grabbed.

Her back connected with something hard, and muscular.

An arm went around her neck, and then her mouth was covered, muffling her startled cry for help. Remembering all the lessons Cheryl had taught her over the years, she prepared to defend herself.

A hand caught hold of her opposite arm, fingers locking around her wrist, effectively stopping her from delivering a blow to her attacker's lower region.

"Shit, Betty." Jughead said, sounding irritated. "It's me."

He let go of her suddenly, allowing her to spin around to face him.

"Damn it, Jug!" Betty hissed, pushing against his chest. "What the hell are you trying to do? Kidnap me?"

He didn't answer, meeting her annoyed gaze with a hard one of his own.

"Give me your bag." He commanded.

Betty's grip tightened instinctively on the strap of her knapsack. It had fallen to her elbow during their struggle. "Are you robbing people now, Jug?"

"Just give it." Jughead demanded, his voice completely monotone.

Her eyes narrowed. "No."

"Fine." He replied. "Toni?"

Jughead caught hold of her again, his hand curling around her upper arm as he tore the bag away from her. He held it for only a moment before tossing it to his friend, Toni, who had seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"There's a pocket on the inside to the right." He told her, and Betty realized that she had been carrying the same backpack since junior high. Of course he would remember. "It should be right there. Unless you changed your hiding place, Betts?"

A knowing look crossed her face.

"Jug-" She began, but he shook his head.

"Seriously Cooper?" He squeezed her arm for emphasis. "Why the hell would you take Adderall? You know what it does to you."

"I need it." Betty admitted in defeat.

"No, Betts, you want it." Jughead corrected. "There's a big difference."

"It's-"

"Your mother has been trying to shove medication for a problem you don't have down your throat since we were eight." He reminded her. "I'm not going to stand by and watch you take that stuff, Betty, no way."

Carefully, Toni extracted the pink container, exactly where Jughead had said it would be, and threw it towards them. He caught it effortlessly, still holding onto her.

"This won't help you in the long run." He shoved the pills into the pocket of his Serpent jacket.

"Give them back."

"No."

"Juggie."

"No, Betts."

"Forsythe..."

He almost looked amused. "When has using my real name ever worked on me, Elizabeth?"

"Jug!" Betty whined, tears burning her eyes. She refused to let them spill. She never cried in front of anyone. Not anymore.

"Sorry, Betts." He didn't sound sorry. "But I'm not Archie. Tears won't work on me."

Her free hand curled into a fist.

Finding nothing else, Toni closed the knapsack and handed it to him too, not giving Betty a second glance.

"See you later." She said, and he nodded.

The second they were alone, she made a grab for his jacket.

Jughead let out a dark chuckle, easily holding her in place. His grip was tight, though he was careful not to hurt her. He would never hurt her, not on purpose.

"This is for your own good, Cooper."

And just like when he had told her and Archie that pterodactyl started with a silent P instead of a T, just like when he convinced her to read Anna Karenina a second time to truly grasp the book's message, she'd had to read it three times, just like when he told Archie that climbing the rotting tree in his back yard was a bad idea, he had spent the rest of the summer with his arm in a cast, Jughead Jones was right again.

But she couldn't let him be right. Not this time.

"Why do you care?" Betty demanded. "I should be the least of your worries, Jughead."

He raised an eye brow. "Is that really what you think?"

"You shouldn't care about me." She told him.

"Betty-"

"What I mean, is..." She couldn't stop the words as they slipped out. "It's not your job anymore, not after the way you disappeared from my life."

Betty took a deep breath, too angry to feel guilty.

"I don't need a Serpent to protect me."

She had finally done it. She finally sounded like Cheryl, and Reggie, and Chuck, and the rest of the people she had hung around with for the last few years.

She had finally ceased being the version of herself that had called Jughead her best friend.

A pained look crossed his face for only a moment before a cool mask of indifference, a look she knew well, for she had worn it many times in the last seventeen years, took over.

"That's a great revision of history, Betts." Jughead mused. "What a writer you'll be someday."

Betty stared at the ground.

How could she have said that to him?

Here he was, trying to help her, admitting that he still cared about her, and god, did she care about him, but instead of being grateful for his attempts, as unorthodox as they could be, and accepting the moment of solidarity he had offered her, a moment where they were still friends, and he would rid her of the demons sent after her by her own mother, she had let all her anger, all the hurt that had slowly been brewing over the last three years, get the better of her.

She had called him out for being exactly who he was, a member of the Southside Serpents, a fact she wasn't sure she would ever truly be okay with, but it was none of her business.

"Give them back, Jughead."

He avoided looking at her.

"I'm not going to let you destroy yourself, Cooper."

Betty opened her mouth to reply. "Juggie-"

"What the hell?" A new, and very familiar voice demanded. "What's going on here? Are you okay, B?"

Carefully, Betty pulled herself from his grasp, turning to face her best friend.

"It's fine, V." She promised. Jughead passed her the knapsack. "Come on, let's go."

Veronica opened her mouth to protest.

"Veronica." Betty snapped, catching hold of her hand. "Come on."

Her nails dug into the palm of her free hand, nearly drawing blood.

"B." Veronica hissed, when they were well out of earshot. "What the hell was that? Are you okay? Did that... Serpent hurt you?"

God, that word stung, and now, she couldn't imagine how it must have felt when the same term had slipped from her lips.

"No." Betty said, a little too quickly.

She didn't look convinced. "Betty..."

"I said no, Veronica." She snapped, wrenching her hand free. "You know what? I don't really feel like going to Pop's right now... I'm sorry, V... I'll see you later."

She waited until she was completely alone to let the first tear fall.