Jughead watched as Betty slept in his bed in his trailer. FP had opened the door when Sweet Pea knocked, taking a sad look at the girl he viewed very much like a daughter. "We'll fix it." These words ere intoned and Jughead knew his dad didn't even know what the hell was going on. Jughead had carried Betty to his room, shutting the door behind him for a modicum of privacy. His father would have to deal with it.

Ripping off her dress from Sisters', Jughead placed Betty back against his pillows and wrangled a shirt on her, along with a pair of his sweat pants. The clothes, of course, were too loose and he had to double-knot the string at the waistband of his pants. His eyes took in the multiple bruises littering her skin like constellations littered the galaxy. There were some that were yellow, green, and fading. Then there were other ones; angrier ones. Blue, purple, and some almost black in their grizzly appearance.

Jughead watched as Betty slept, smoothing out her brow when it puckered into a frown. She whimpered in her sleep and he trailed his hand down the curve of her face. "You're okay. You're with me and safe."

Her brow smoothed out once more and she sighed contentedly, holding a hand out for him in her sleep. He held onto it, soothing his thumb along her knuckles. Then Betty's eyes shot open and she flew into a sitting position, bending over the plastic bowl he had slid into her lap so she could throw up into it. She choked and spluttered, coughing as she threw up, and he held her hair back with one hand, and rubbed a soothing palm up her back with the other. She slumped back at against his pillows when she was through, and he took the bowl away from her as there was a knock on his bedroom door. "Jug?"

"Come in, dad," he called quietly, and FP opened the door, appraising Betty on his bed as she shook with fine tremors.

"Here, honey, I have some water for you," his dad said calmly, and Betty accepted the glass with hands that shook. Jughead stilled the cup by holding the bottom of it and she tilted the water into her mouth, staring at him with tired eyelashes that fluttered. Pulling back, she laid down in the pillows.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Jughead stared at her for a moment, feeling sadness pore out of every crevice inside of him. "How long where you there?"

Betty didn't have to ask where he was referring to. "My mom went to the farm…two weeks ago, if I remember correctly. Everything is a little hazy. Hiram…" She trailed off and Jughead looked at her with a worried frown.

"Hiram what, hon?" Jughead asked quietly.

Betty closed her eyes, taking in fortifying breath. "Hiram was the one who administered the fizzle rock to the girls there. It's mainly a place for his drug mules. I never stood a chance."

"You fought, Betty," Jughead said fiercely. "Your bruises are indicators of that." He wouldn't let her think otherwise.

"Oh, I pissed off lurch more often than not," she agreed.

"Who – what?" Jughead asked.

"Lurch," she mumbled. "He's Woodhouse's righthand man and one of my main tormentors at Sisters. That's okay. I fought him hard too."

Jughead's breath caught in his throat at the hitch of pride in her voice and he had to swallow the lump that lodged itself there painfully. "You did great." His voice was nothing more than a cracked whisper because fuck Alice Cooper and the day she decided to hurt Betty in the worst way possible.

Perhaps Betty was thinking along the same lines because she turned dull eyes towards Jughead. "Why'd she send me there?

"I haven't the faintest idea how to make sense of Alice Cooper's mind but I promise you, baby, she'll pay," Jughead said softly, tracing the bruise underneath Betty's eye. Her lips quivered and rolled and then she was retching into the bowl again. "Shh, just get it all up."

Betty continued to be sick and then when she was through, FP spoke up. "I don't know if you're up to seeing company, but you've got some visitors who didn't want to leave you."

Jughead smiled slightly, looking at Betty with a quirked brow. "What do you say?"

"Our friends stayed here?" Betty asked in disbelief.

"Camped out in my living room," FP chuckled, and Betty smiled softly.

"Okay," she whispered, standing up and Jughead guided her out of his room with an arm wrapped around her waist. Her footsteps were slow, unsteady in ways he knew he could thank the drugs for. Predictably, Sweet Pea was the first to spot them, the taller having been watching his door for any signs, and he stood to his feet.

"Coop," he murmured, looking crestfallen. Betty smiled tiredly.

"I'm all right, Sweets," she murmured, and the next thing Jughead knew, Sweet Pea was taking hold of Betty and wrapping her in a gentle bear hug. Betty's shoulders shook and Jughead's heart wrenched at the same time Sweet Pea made a painful noise in the back of his throat.

"Shh," he murmured, pressing a brotherly kiss to the top of her head. "It's okay, shortcake."

"I know," she sobbed, and Jughead pulled Betty out from his hold, ignoring Sweet Pea's growl, as he brought his girlfriend into his arms.

"Shh," he soothed, rocking her back and forth. "It's okay. Shh."

"I'm – I'm so sorry," she hiccupped but Jughead continued rubbing an open palm down her back, hushing her quietly.

"It's okay," he murmured. "It's okay. You're allowed to cry. You didn't do anything wrong."

He glanced up and spotted Cheryl's eyes flashing dangerously, as Veronica's filled with tears, and Toni just looked mad. He nodded at the three girls and they made their way to her, Cheryl reaching her cousin first.

"Betty," she said softly, and Betty went to Cheryl next, Toni and Veronica encircling them next.

"My mom h-hates me," she spluttered, tears splashing down her face.

"Your mom is an utter bitch," Cheryl cooed, holding her cousin's face between her palms. "You're nothing like her and when this is all said and done, you'll be free of her."

"Promise?" Betty asked smally.

It was Fangs who spoke up. "We swear mini-Coop. We're getting you away from her poisonous ways once and for all."

That caused some of the tension in Betty's shoulders to loosen and, while nowhere near enough, it was a good enough start for Jughead. He looked at Archie and the redhead nodded. They had work to do.