Turns out, the coming days were nothing like what Betty thought they were goin to be. She knew that things would be tough. She expected that. What she did not expect, however, was to be accosted everywhere she went. There was always someone who wanted to ask her vile questions; questions like the one William had asked. If she was a murdering freak like daddy dearest.

She'd admit, those questions hurt. They hurt her on an innate level, but she couldn't show that. She couldn't show that weakness to anyone. And she knew that. She also knew that Ethel was doing a lot better than she was and for that, she was happy for her friend.

Jughead still sheltered her; still protected her at every turn and, while she appreciated that, she knew they couldn't keep living like this. So unbalanced from everything else in their lives.

She licked her lips as she watched Sweet Pea and Jughead run the meeting of the Serpents. FP and Tallboy were out collecting shipment, and Jughead had been left in charge. Naturally, her boyfriend was an honest-to-God leader who knew no boundaries in his leadership abilities, and she loved that for him.

Jughead made eye contact with her just then, smiling at her kindly, and she returned it. She didn't want him to ever think she wasn't grateful for everything he'd done for her over the years. Not ever. He said something that she didn't quite hear, and then he was making his way towards her. "Hey." He smiled at her softly, going to scooch her out of her seat so he could sit down and pull her into his lap.

She laughed warmly. "Hey, yourself."

"There's my pretty girl," he smiled. "Happy Betty is my favorite Betty."

She blushed, pressing her face into he crook of his neck. She didn't know what she had done to deserve him, but she'd be thanking her lucky stars every day. She knew this. "I love you.'

"Hmm, I love you too, pretty girl," he whispered, pressing his lips to hers in a tender kiss. She smiled into the kiss, feeling the last of her tension ebb away at his touch alone. It was amazing what his touch could do to her. What it could unravel. And she was forever grateful for that.

"So, how was the meeting?" Betty asked when they pulled apart.

Jughead shrugged. "It was fine. Just another meeting about the shipment my dad and Tallboy were handling today."

"What shipment is this?" Betty asked carefully, hoping she wouldn't hear the word 'drugs'.

Jughead softened at her look, smiling at her gently. "You know I can't tell you that, Betts, but what I can tell you is that it's not drugs."

That was enough to appease her and she sighed in relief. "Thank God for that. I don't want your dad dragging you into something you can't get out of."

"I know," he murmured lowly. Just low enough for her to hear. Then the rest of the group was coming over to them.

"William give you shit today, mini-Coop?" Fangs asked, looking at her with a quirked brow. She shook her head.

"Not today, thankfully," she muttered.

Fangs nodded once, appeased by that answer. "Good. I'd hate to have to mess up his pretty little face."

Except, he didn't sound like he would hate it. Quite the contrary, actually. Betty smirked at him, Sweet Pea pounding him on the back with his fist. "Hell yeah! Let's fuck up some pretty boys."

"Sweet Pea," Betty sang. "Not today."

"You're no fun, mini-Coop," he muttered, but he was smiling at her so that told her he wasn't too upset with her. She winked at him and then Jughead was speaking, commanding the presence of everyone in the room just with his voice alone.

"We're going to make William pay," he said, tone venomous. "Actually, scratch that. We're going to make every fucker who hurt her pay. Her mom. Wiliam. Her dad."

Betty laughed nervously. "What are you going to do, Juggie?"

He kissed her just then, grinning a wolf-like grin. "Leave that to me, pretty girl."

She didn't know what that meant or what he was going to do, but she knew she could trust him. She could always trust him. He wouldn't do anything, ever, to intentionally hurt her. Hell, he'd freeze hell before unintentionally hurting her, too. She knew this without a shadow of a doubt. She smiled at him gently, crooking her finger underneath his chin. Pressing her lips to his in a languid kiss, she didn't give a fuck about who was watching. She heard someone – most definitely Sweet Pea – wolf-whistling and she grinned as she pulled out of the case. "I love you." She mouthed.

He stamped a hard kiss onto her lips, bruising them in a delicious way. "I love you too."

His voice was loud; heard over the raucous laughter that had started by some of the older Serpents; the drunken ones. She knew that Jughead hated anyone drinking in his father's bar, but he let it go tonight. It seemed like everyone was cutting loose. She turned to face Sweet Pea. "Think we can get him to go easy on them?"

"Jug?" Sweet Pea snorted. "Never. And for good reason. They're assholes who have done you wrong time and time again. Hell, I'm hoping to lay my hands on your dad at least once, but preferably twice."

Betty looked at him in surprise. "You want to hit my dad?"

"I want to knock the fucker on his ass," Sweet Pea corrected her. She blinked.

"I didn't know you felt so strongly about him, Pea."

"Are you kidding me, blondie? He's done nothing but harm you these last two years and I'm sick of it. Sick of it. It pissed me off the way he followed you at prom," he said lowly, fire coursing through his tone.

She looked at Jughead, who didn't seem nearly as surprised as she did to be hearing this words. Sharing a look with Sweet Pea, the shorter nodded his head once and then turned to her, eyes alight with maniacal energy.

"We'll make them all pay."