Happy Halloween y'all! What are you going as this year?

Thank you to my reviewers: Guest, bluexaphyre, victorialexington, Chloe0x0, Guest, Ava, and Guest!

Guest: It wasn't two months...not quite XD

Guest: Aww! I'm always happy to hear that!

Ava: I've been waiting for Sweets to reveal he's had Jug's hat for awhile. I thought that Xmas was a good time, plus it just shows that Betty's really and truly over Jug and not just looking at Sweets as a Jug replacement in a sense. And yes, our two little babies have come quite far, haven't they? The name thing is dropped in this chapter to get through some important stuff, but it will re-appear! Next chapter might hopefully kickstart some ideas or questions and all

Song for this chapter is We Will Become Silhouettes by The Shins! Lots to talk about at the bottom a/n, so stick around!

December 31st, 2018

Betty had never been one for New Year's. It had always seemed like an inconsequential holiday; someone arbitrarily decided long ago that this marked a new year, so everyone should get roaring drunk?

She knew her friends would take any excuse to party, and apparently, so did her ancestors.

With the end of the world, it felt even less useful. The only thing that mattered about keeping knowledge of the date was to have some semblance of how far into this winter they were. So far, not very far at all.

"I heard once that it snowed in May here in Wisconsin. Like a snowstorm," Sweet Pea informed Betty. She hit him with a pillow.

"And why, once again, did we choose Wisconsin?"

"Because no one wants to live here," Sweet Pea said with a sly grin, "Duh. Which means we're pretty much safe. Can you imagine how many people are fighting over living in somewhere like Florida? What's that got going for it!"

"Warmth?"

"And alligators and mosquitoes and very non-frozen walkers," Sweet Pea shrugged, "Dunno, I think we're the smartest out there, just sayin'."

As it was, they were hardly into the winter season, speaking scientifically. With Christmas gone, New Year's was like a beacon of light on top of a hill. After they'd crossed the hill, they'd just be looking down on the dark, endless blackness below. Months before summer. No end in sight.

There were some days Betty almost didn't want to get up. Some days when this felt all so useless, as though they were pushing a wheel up and up and up just to get squashed by it when it inevitably rolled back down.

She's sure without Sweet Pea's unwavering optimism, and the fact that she made a promise that they'd be in this together, she may have chosen to opt-out long ago.

New Year's, unlike Christmas, did not sneak up on her. She was well aware of the impending date.

There was something significant about it, though she couldn't tell what.

To Sweet Pea's credit, on New Year's Eve, he didn't make a fuss about it. They went about their work and Betty held her breath, almost thinking that they'd be able to by-pass the whole holiday. However, as she washed up after dinner, she noticed Sweet Pea by the clocks.

"What are you doing?" She was almost afraid to ask.

"Making sure that these are perfectly set so we don't miss New Year's," He said, a little distracted, "Hey, ah, wanna go grab that bottle of champagne? The ones that didn't break around your birthday?"

"You want to waste alcohol?"

"Betty, Betty, Betty," Sweet Pea sighed, "This is hardly wasting it. This is what it was made for. But fine; there are smaller bottles down there. Probably two glasses between us, tops." He said, "Please? It's not New Years without booze!"

"Oh, it can be," Betty pinched the bridge of her nose, "Fine, fine."

"Great! New Year's commences in T-minus three hours!"

She wasn't going to have fun, she told herself, and she'd only have one glass. Something was bothering her, making her grumpy, for the life of her she didn't know why.

But that wasn't fair to Sweet Pea. He was trying to find joy to bring into their droll lives, how could she get upset about that? He didn't deserve her snappy attitude. She tried to bring it inward, but that didn't work.

"You have a stick up your ass," Sweet Pea said after finishing their episodes for the night (t-minus a half an hour until New Years).

"Fuck you," Betty growled, turning away.

"Here, have more champagne," Sweet Pea said, tipping the half-empty bottle toward her. She bit her lip.

"I'm fine."

Sweet Pea knit his eyebrows, scowling as he set it aside. He clambered onto the couch to sit right next to her, touching her shoulder gently.

"You...okay?"

"I don't know," She admitted after a long second, "I'm just in an awful mood and I don't know why."

"Must be something in the air," Sweet Pea murmured faintly. She turned, confused. "I'm in a pretty crappy mood too."

"Seriously?"

"Why do you think I'm making such a big effort?" He asked. They were such different people. Sweet Pea became overly happy when he was upset, Betty withdrew into herself as not to hurt others. She realized now that his smile was a little too bright, his eyes a little too empty.

"Why are you upset?"

Sweet Pea flopped back on the couch, "Thinking about...people. It's hard not to. To think that going into this year, you might not see them. I wish we knew when we had it good, or when it was going to be the last time I saw friends, so maybe I could have…" He raised his hands into the air above his face, making vague motions, as though he was trying to reach out and grab the memories swirling around his head, "It just makes you think."

Betty pulled her legs to her chest, setting her chin upon them, "Yeah. I feel that. Maybe that's my hang-up too. You start thinking about where you were last year...who you were with last year at this time. And you realize they're not there anymore." She whispered faintly, trying hard not to cry.

"Last year I was with Fangs. We stole some of FP's stash, and we were singing on the top of the trailer. It was snowing, but I couldn't feel it. I was so buzzed. But I was thinking…" Sweet Pea pulled a face.

"Don't try too hard, you'll hurt yourself," Betty quipped with a smile.

"Fucking hell, I was thinking...of you ." He realized with a start, as though those memories had been lost in a haze of alcohol before. Betty inhaled so hard she choked a bit.

"Me? You hated me last year. Why in the world would you have been thinking of me?"

"I didn't hate you, I hated things associated with Jughead. So," He waved a hand between them, as though that explained it, "It's because I saw you."

"You saw me…" Betty echoed strangely, "It was you. I...I was going to Veronica's party but somehow drove to the trailer park. I guess my heart was missing Jug, hoped I'd run into him or we'd talk or I don't know. I thought maybe it was FP behind the blinds or that Jughead was ignoring me, but that was you peeking through the blinds, wasn't it?"

Sweet Pea seemed to be thinking hard. After a moment, he nodded, "Yeah. That was me."

Betty chewed on her lip, "That's strange. I guess at midnight, without knowing it, I was thinking of you too. I was thinking of the figure I saw, which happened to be you, so…"

Sweet Pea looked strangely pensive. He exhaled softly, almost looking pained as his eyes seemed to trace Betty's face.

"Do you believe in fate?"

Betty giggled nervously. She wasn't prepared for that question at all, nor the implications behind it.

"I know you are. In the words of Michael Scott you're 'a little stitious'," she teased, holding up two fingers to show space of about an inch between them.

"I've seen a lot of shit to make me believe. But isn't it weird that we were both unknowingly thinking of each other and then we find each other on the day the world ends? I guess I just don't believe in coincidences," He said, throwing his arm on the back of the couch, but this whole realization seemed to hit him harder than he wanted to let on.

"I think…" Betty began slowly, "We found what we needed. Maybe there was some divine intervention, maybe we were lucky. I don't think it was necessarily a coincidence either, but I'm not sure if it was planned or if we changed the course of time with our thoughts."

"They say who you think about on New Years is who you'll spend it with. That turned out to be true."

Betty, unsure if she wanted to dive into this conversation which may reveal her deep, passionate feelings for him, choose to lighten it, "Well, then I'm sure as hell glad it was you and not Chuck Clayton or Hiram Lodge I was thinking about."

"If you'd told me last year that I'd be here…" Sweet Pea shrugged, "I guess sometimes I'm glad about how things turn out."

He looked at the many, many clocks he'd situated around them.

"I always watched the ball drop. You?"

"Usually didn't have cable," Sweet Pea said, sucking air through his teeth, "Once, Toni and I tried to re-create it. It didn't go well and we ruined the side of Toni's trailer because Fangs put firecrackers in the make-shift ball. I mean, I thought it was hilarious," He added, his face brightening, "We have two minutes."

"Until 2019," Betty rubbed her eyes. She wasn't tired, but the idea of the year 2019 exhausted her in ways she couldn't describe. Then again, years really didn't matter.

"Hey, Betty?" Sweet Pea asked. Somehow, his hand landed on her knee and was drawing soft, small circles on it.

"Hmm?" She asked, totally distracted by the continual movements.

"Since you know I'm superstitious, I think that maybe we should kiss at midnight. For good luck. For the rest of the year." He said.

Betty felt her cheeks blush hard as her stomach twisted with a fire she knew would bother her the rest of the night. She drew in a breath but never quite let it out, looking at his unsure expression.

"Well, that would be the most logical," She said, but all her words came out in one long rush, "Since we do need all the luck we can get."

"Agreed." Sweet Pea's eyes flickered, "One minute. Fifty-nine...fifty-eight…" He whispered, counting down the seconds, getting softer and softer. Or maybe Betty's brain was fizzling out again. She stood absolutely still, not even daring to breathe for fear that this illusion would shatter or she'd wake up, as Sweet Pea pulled her against him.

"One."

Just as Betty's mind connected the dots as she imagined the ball dropping and people in Times Square crying about the year 2019 (if there were people left to say anything about it), Sweet Pea covered her mouth with his own.

It was gentle, but not chaste. From the second their lips collided, Sweet Pea sought the inside of her mouth, his hands grasping her shoulders as he pulled her closer and closer. Betty let him explore her lips, placing her hands on the couch cushion behind them.

Every sense of hers was overwhelmed by Jordan. He was everywhere at once, all over and in her mind. She felt like she'd fallen inside of him, but that he'd also taken hold of her.

Betty couldn't tell you how long they kissed. To her, it felt like mere seconds, but when they finally pulled back, the clocks said nearly eight minutes had elapsed. They both wore flushed expressions; obviously, neither had expected it to go on so long.

"Happy 2019, Betts." Sweet Pea said, shifting back, "Damn. 2019."

"I think if that's any indicator,' Betty said with a shaky laugh, "We're going to have a very good year."

XXxxXX

January 9th, 2019

Betty woke up in the middle of the night, unsure why. It was the seventh or eighth night in a row she'd woken up without cause, and it was starting to really grind on her mind. Usually, she forced her eyes close again and forced herself back to sleep. Tonight, Betty sat up, yawning and covering her mouth to not disturb Sweet Pea.

Sweet Pea, who strangely was not next to her.

The bed on his side was warm, meaning he'd vacated not long ago.

He'd seemed more tired lately. Seven or eight nights worth, that is. Betty wondered if he'd been getting up nightly, some darkness ailing him, that left him unable to catch much shut-eye and she was now so used to his presence that she woke up at his quiet departure.

Or, perhaps he was just getting water or going to the bathroom.

Betty laid her head upon her pillow, reaching out to grab his own flannel-covered pillow. She would hear his footsteps, she told herself, but couldn't help pulling it to her nose to inhale it just for a second. If she could get away with it, she'd be stealing his pillow to lull her back to sleep.

She waited up for him. It became obvious that this wasn't just a quick trip, he was going on nearly half-an-hour gone.

Betty was concerned. If there was something wrong, she had a right to know! She'd kill him if he was getting sick and hiding it from her, or if he was getting depressed and trying not to let her know. They were partners and partners were transparent with each other!

Betty grabbed a heavy cardigan from the chair near the bed, throwing it over her shoulders as she crept out into the silent, cool house. The wood beneath her feet was frozen and she made a mental note to put 'slippers' on the list for the next time they went outside.

The door to the bathroom near the kitchen was slightly ajar, which was strange. He was clearly hiding something, or else he'd just have gone to the bathroom next to their bedroom. There was a candle burning, the flickering soft light dancing on the walls of the bathroom.

There was a soft groaning noise coming from the bathroom. Betty paused near a wall, trying to decipher what kind of sounds they were. They were too faint for her to really make any decisions, but worry curled in the pit of her heart. If he'd been sick for nearly a week, then it might be serious, and they should be looking for medicine!

Betty steeled herself to face him, preparing her speech about how ridiculous he was being and how dare he hide this illness from her when she could help and about a hundred other frustrations about this situation. She pushed open the door slightly, lips open to start her speech, but was met with a sight she did not expect and was not prepared for.

Sweet Pea hadn't heard her come in. They'd oiled all the door hinges so that none made noise, in an attempt to keep the house as quiet as possible. Because of this, as she nudged the door to the side, he didn't hear her entrance.

His back was to her. He stood hunched over, one hand pressed against the wall and his other grasping himself. His pants were pooled around his ankles and he gave a soft, breathless moans as he rubbed himself.

Betty blinked rapidly. Had he been doing this all eight nights?

Well, he was a guy...a young guy...was she honestly surprised? She shouldn't have been as surprised as she was, she thought.

One part of Betty was about to swiftly turn around, never say anything and go back to bed. The other part of her mind?

It recalled the solid he'd done for her at Christmas. Plus, she realized that she wanted to help him, wanted to do this.

They kept crossing lines that couldn't be uncrossed. First humping, then fingering, now...this? It was clear their weird friends with benefits situation was expanding at a rapid rate. Betty could hardly complain.

She almost drew out to touch his tense back muscles, until she realized that surprising him probably wasn't the best choice. For all she knew he may have a knife and his gut instinct may be to throw it.

Betty opted for a gentle grunt, a little cough into her hand.

Sweet Pea spun, eyes wild, as he grasped for his boxers.

"Betty, er-," He was as red as Archie's hair, "Just go back to bed. I was just...ah…" All excuses blanked on his face as he struggled to come up with a good reason for what she'd just seen.

"You don't have to explain," Betty said, taking a step forward, "It gets lonely here and sometimes you just need to let off some steam," She said, now extremely close to him.

"Right, yeah," Sweet Pea coughed, "But you...I'm not...let's go back to bed." He said, covering his face with his hands.

"But you didn't finish," Betty said, eyes flickering down to his tented pants, "And we both know that it will be nearly impossible for you to sleep without it. Which is why you've been so tired the last week, right?"

"Look," Sweet Pea groaned, "I know I've been off. I just…" He let out a strangled noise as Betty dropped, "What are you doing?"

"Helping you go to sleep," Betty responded coquettishly.

"You don't have to do that," Sweet Pea said, his whole body taut and tense as she tugged his boxers back down, "Reall-," His words choked off as Betty went straight for the kill, curling her tongue over the head.

Her and Jughead had often only had time for one sexual favor, so it was usually sex. She'd only gotten the chance to give oral two or three times, but Jughead had never complained. She didn't think she was a star BJ-giver by any means, but clearly Sweet Pea enjoyed it too from the noise he was making as she sucked him entirely down her throat.

"Holy fuck, Betty." Sweet Pea cussed, slumping back against the wall to hold himself up, "You don't…"

"Stop it," Betty said, pulling back, "I want to." The fact that it only seemed he'd gotten harder wasn't helping his case any.

Betty placed a palm around his girth, sucking and licking and nipping, just a little graze of teeth. Not enough to break skin or to cut him, but enough so that he jumped and bucked his hips whenever she did it.

Her other hand came behind to fondle his balls, which she could feel tightening in her hand.

He wasn't going to last long.

He'd been trying to let her do her work before, not get too aggressive, but as his orgasm rose, he began to thrust in and out of her lips with a frenzy, unable to stop the motions. He grasped her hair, digging his fingernails through her locks, causing a thrill to shoot down her stomach.

"Be...beh...Betty," Sweet Pea groaned, his words quivering as he tried to speak them out loud, "I'm so fucking...god...don't stop...please," He begged. Betty wondered how long it had been for him. She looked up at him through her eyelashes. His head was against the wall, red patches forming on his cheeks as his peak rose through him.

His hands gripped the back of her head. Saliva dripped in between her fingers as she took him deeper. As her lips came in contact with his base, Sweet Pea's knees shook and threatened to buckle. He released one hand to reach out for the corner of the countertop to keep himself standing.

"Cooper, I'm about to...you might want to-," He began to say, but Betty wasn't going to waste items to clean up after him; certainly not water or cloth that they'd have to clean later. She gripped him harder, feeling him pulse as he finished. The warm, salty tang she'd only tasted a handful of times coated the back of her tongue as she swallowed.

"Holy fuck," Sweet Pea said. Betty sat back on her haunches, grinning at her own forwardness. As soon as she'd detached, Sweet Pea sank down on the wall, his legs having given out. He sat in front of Betty on the floor of the bathroom, breathing heavily, staring at her with such a look that Betty could not decipher.

She ran the pads of her finger along the edge of her lips, and then her chin, wiping the wetness on her shirt.

"Better?" She asked.

"You're joking, right?" Sweet Pea laughed, "Best blow-job I've ever had."

"Awe," Betty slapped his knee, "You're just saying that.

"I'm not lying, serious," He said. He looked at her, frowning as though just realizing something. His eyes flickered down to her chest. She wasn't wearing a bra (she never did) but her sweater had been left on the chair of the bedroom. It was obvious that she'd gotten a little pleasure from watching him come undone around her mouth too, though she could try to claim it was the chill in the air that hardened her nipples.

Sweet Pea stood up, pulling his boxers back on. Betty stood too, but before she could say anything, Sweet Pea grabbed her arm, pulling her back toward the bedroom.

"I get it, we should sleep," Betty chuckled at his motions, crawling onto the mattress. Sweet Pea pressed a hand against her stomach, holding her in place.

"You think I'm going to let you sleep after that?" He asked, his voice rough and dark but amused.

"Oh?" Betty asked, feeling lightheaded all of a sudden.

"I owe you." He said simply, "I'd hardly be the gentleman that I claim to be if I just turned over and went to bed after that little show."

"I owed you . From Christmas. It's fine," Betty said, but it felt more rehearsed than truthful.

"Too bad." Sweet Pea replied, grinning mischievously. He raised her nightgown, bunching it just below her breasts. Betty laid back, not daring to breathe as she waited for his next move.

She felt Sweet Pea hook his fingers underneath the elastic of her underwear. He paused, as though waiting for her to stop him. Instead, Betty just bit her lip in anxious anticipation.

Agonizingly slowly, he pulled it down her legs. The cold air of the night against her exposed center made her shiver, until Sweet Pea's large hands slid up the inside of her thigh, pausing at the point where her legs met her torso.

She knew she was already turned on; she had been since she walked into the bathroom. To know he was so close was torture to her and set her entire lower body in flames.

"Please," She whimpered, "Please, Sweets."

She had half-expected his fingers again since he'd so expertly brought her off with them before. She would have jumped completely off the bed, had Sweet Pea's left hand still holding her down at her stomach when his tongue licked the length of her slit.

"Awe, fuuuu-," Betty ended it with a low hiss as she covered her face with her hands.

"Good?" Sweet Pea paused to ask, and she could tell from how his breath landed he was looking up. Betty could only manage to nod jerkily in response, overwhelmed by how everywhere he touched was light setting electrical impulses up and down her skin.

Sweet Pea chuckled with a self-satisfied haughtiness that he completely deserved as he descended upon her.

His tongue focused on her clit, flicking the hooded nub with precision and practice. Two fingers teased her entrance, covering himself in her juices. She could feel herself becoming wetter as he continued, her whole body shaking hard from how he was making her feel.

"More, more," She whispered, fingers digging into the bedsheets.

She cried out as Sweet Pea plunged three fingers into her. He lifted his head to work them in and out languidly, rubbing every nerve surrounding her center, curling his fingers inside of her. Betty panted, groaning unrestrained.

"You like that?" Sweet Pea asked in a deep voice, "You like feeling me drive you to that point of no return?"

"Yes," Betty exhaled, "God, yes."

"You taste so good, Betty," Sweet Pea said, diving back in, "Like chocolate. I could have this every day."

How she wished. How she so much wanted this to happen every day.

Like the dream, to make it normal. Domestic.

Just the thought of that, not of Sweet Pea and Betty but of SweetPeaAndBetty and the thought that, if she let her soul lift from this moment, she could pretend it was always like this. That alone was enough to pull her over the edge, and she came, biting the inside of her palms as she felt the most blessed finish.

Sweet Pea leaned back, fingers edging along his mouth, staring at Betty with a wide, wolfish grin.

"Thank you," Betty whispered, though only a thank-you felt disingenuous to what he'd given her and what she felt.

"Fair's fair," Sweet Pea said, jumping under the covers. Without thinking, he pulled Betty up against him, nose inhaling at her crown, "Night, Betts."

"Night," Betty replied, but instead, she stayed up for a very long time, listening only to the sound of his breathing and wondering how the greater powers above could have given her something so wonderful and yet so far from her touch.

XXxxXX

February 11th, 2019

"I know that you don't want to go out," Sweet Pea said, leaning against the counter of the kitchen, "But, well, it's rather needed, isn't it?"

"I will survive without any flour just fine," Betty said, sighing and trying not to look at the bags of flour, completely destroyed by hungry mice and infested with bugs.

"Betty," Sweet Pea gave her a roll of his eyes, "We use flour in near everything and we don't have enough wheat to try to make our own yet," He said, "Next winter, perhaps, but we...it was…" Betty saw his swallow, a deep frown on his face.

"You did your best. Crops are finicky," Betty said, knowing he felt awful about it overall.

"Still. We'll need to pack the new flour better." Sweet Pea said, "Look, we'll try to hit up some houses near here. Not town. As soon as we get…" He did a count of the bags near the door to be thrown out, "Ten bags, we'll come right back. Nothing more, nothing less."

Betty fidgeted with the hem of her sweater, "Eight. I can make-do with eight," She said, "And fine."

"We'll be okay," Sweet Pea said quieter, grasping her fingers and kissing the ends of them, "You have me." He added, his voice taking a more joking tone.

Betty wouldn't have left the house at all that winter if she could help it. Or, ever again. The appeal of the outside world had basically lost all charm, big surprise there. She was content with their life, and God knew she had enough day to day to do anyway.

But she was a warrior and a fighter and she wasn't going to let the fear of the unknown keep her from a much-needed foray outside. So, as Sweet Pea made sure his bat was up to snuff, Betty tucked knives and weapons all over her body. As the pair went out to the AV, since they wouldn't need an entire moving van for a flour run, Betty clutched her favorite knife (fuck, you know it's the apocalypse when you have a favorite knife) to her chest, heart pounding.

Sweet Pea handed her a helmet, they peeled back their entrance to the gate, and then they were off into the white, snowy wilderness.

Their land was rather expansive, but there was a little gathering of suburban houses only a mile or so away. The paint was peeling and the yards looked untouched, which left Betty hopeful for their intended goal. She did not want to run into anything or anyone.

The first house was one they'd looked at while trying to find their headquarters, so Betty knew it to be free of walkers unless some had moved in the six or so months since they'd come through. It was untouched, almost eerily as they'd left it.

"Hah, look!" Sweet Pea said, pointing at the kitchen table. There had been a fine layer of dust on the table then and Sweet Pea had scrawled his signature into it while waiting for Betty to decide if she liked this location or not. While the dust had started to re-coat the tabletop, the remnant of Sweet Pea's handwriting was still visible.

Betty placed a palm up near it.

When he'd written this, she'd still been pining over Jug, hoping that they'd find him alive somewhere. She hadn't even considered falling in love with him.

How things had changed.

Betty wrote 'Arianrhod' next to it, and then almost without thinking, finished it off with a heart near their names. She stood back, blinking at it for a second, almost about to erase it.

No, leave it, she decided.

She half hoped Sweet Pea would see and question its presence.

"Ah-ha! Two!" Sweet Pea said, "Err, one and a half...wait...no, probably two," Sweet Pea said, throwing Betty one unopened bag of flour, one half-used bag, and then raising a ceramic jar above his head that said 'flour' in swirly letters.

"We might as well see if there's anything else useful," Betty relented, sighing. If they were going to be out and about, she was going to make sure that this was the only time they'd need to be. She wasn't talking about a deep cleanse of the rooms, more of exploration through the...Schultz's kitchen. Or, from the unopened mail that had been tacked to their fridge nearly a year ago, that's what Betty assumed their last name to be.

Looting for their eight bags only took another three hours and six houses. In two, they had to kill the walkers that thumped around, though they were mostly animated bones than the terrifying walkers that Betty had come to know. They may have been the original inhabitants of the house, but God, at this stage Betty couldn't have even been able to tell.

It used to be that you lived and you died and you decomposed six feet below the ground. Now you lived, you died, your body came back and you decomposed in the open air.

She liked it better how it used to be.

Just to Sweet Pea's promise, they stayed no longer than what they had come for. They picked up a few more items on the way, mostly food, so the entire outing wasn't a bust. Betty wouldn't admit it, but she was glad of the supplies they now were roping to the back of the AV.

"Home we go?" Sweet Pea asked, his voice muffled by his helmet. Betty, starting to relax, gave a thumbs up.

They took a different route home, so as not to run into any uglies and to cover their tracks. Not that they'd seen anyone else, but still.

They went through a more mechanical part of the town, something that had worn metal sheds galore and abandoned machinery scattered around like a car graveyard.

Betty couldn't describe it. She was holding onto the handles, Sweet Pea guiding it behind her when she looked at one of those sheds and was just overcome by the most unbearable feeling of loneliness. It did not creep or linger, but it sprung at her like a tiger hiding in the shadows, clutching her and taking the breath right out of her.

By the time they reached back home, Betty was a near inconsolable mess.

"Betty! Oh my god, are you...what's wrong?" Sweet Pea asked, jumping off and grasping her shoulders, seeing her tear-streaked face and her shaking shoulders.

"There's...no one...here…" Betty gasped out, as though it was just hitting her now how estranged they were, how empty the entire world felt. They'd gone through an entire subdivision of houses and not seen a person there, not a hint of anyone's presence for a long time.

"What?"

"We're just...it's not...it's so...empty…" Betty couldn't start to describe the feeling to Sweet Pea that was clinging, it was entirely unprecedented and illogical to begin with. It wasn't a new thing, their waywardness here, but something about the day's events and the empty sheds with abandoned cars and motorcycles made her feel like such a small, insignificant being in this great wide universe.

The stars would shine and die and the world would change and maybe this is how they'd go? Maybe humanity would die out and it would be nothing more than a blip in the entire span of time that some great god was scrolling and casting out on a ribbon. Everything humanity had done, all the worldly good and bad, would not be remembered it. It would cease to exist. There would be no one around to witness what they'd done or what they'd left, and their planet would spin and spin and spin until it was gone too.

Betty's legs gave out and she fell into the fluffy snow, the chill biting at her lips and cheeks and making her runny nose harden.

"Are you okay?"

"No. yes, I don't know," Betty sniffled, pressing her cool mittens to her face, "I just…" She gave a choked laugh, "Does it matter?"

"Does what matter?" Sweet Pea's voice was soft, terrified.

"This?" Betty waved a hand, "Or are we going to die anyway?"

"Everyone dies eventually, Betts," Sweet Pea said, measuring his words out like he only had so much to give.

"But will we have done all of this work and be offed by a walker? Or I die or sickness and then go mad and bite you? Or someone else does us in any way? And it just never even mattered?"

Sweet Pea stood, as though angry.

"You matter. I think you do. I think what we've done matters because it makes a difference to me," He hissed, so angry he couldn't even express words, "It fucking matters."

Betty gave an empty laugh, "Yeah, okay."

Sweet Pea stormed inside. After a few quiet seconds, like someone else was pulling her arms and legs, Betty began to bring the items they'd found inside of the house, though if she believed it was all going to shit anyway, it didn't make a difference if they died from starvation or from a walker bite.

The numbness inside of her would not relent.

XXxxXX

February 18th, 2019

Sweet Pea walked around pissed for days. He slept elsewhere, a spare bedroom, and he hardly talked to Betty.

Betty, though, walked around in a weird sort of fugue state, her mind muddled and questioning everything. She did things out of practice and need, not because her body was screaming to stay alive. She ate because her body told her to, but everything tasted like cardboard. She slept because she was tired, but did not feel it fully. She kept warm because goosebumps raised upon her skin, but not because the chill bothered her.

She felt closer to a walker than a human.

Sweet Pea tried talking to her once or twice, but she realized that he became frustrated quickly and flat-out avoided her. If she had the feelings left, perhaps she'd care.

At night, she was plagued by the faces of everyone left behind, everyone she was sure was dead too. Some nights, she saw her own face in the piles, and she couldn't even feel sad.

It was a strange week of her life, looking back.

She wasn't sure what snapped her out of it. She wasn't sure what brought it on, although she would get her period a few days later, and she wondered if that had something to do with it. Or, maybe her body just needed time to realign.

She wouldn't say that her emotions overcame her but she woke up wondering distinctly where Sweet Pea was.

She found him outside of their gated area, a shotgun across his lap and his bat near his feet. The body of one walker lay bloody and unmoving next to the chairs. It had clearly died either at a different season or a much more temperate climate since it was wearing a tank-top and short-shorts. Sweet Pea was staring out at the road, like he was waiting for someone, drinking a beer.

Sweet Pea looked at her approaching, then sneered, biting his lip as he turned away.

There was a second chair pulled out by him.

"Can I sit?"

"Can you, or would that mean actively doing something?" Sweet Pea bit out, "Or, fuck it, let's take it one step farther into this existential crisis. Does this chair even exist? Do we, or are we just noises and numbers from some giant computer's brain and nothing we do makes a bloody difference."

Betty wrapped her arms around her, nodding and sighing, "I deserved that." She paused, "So…?"

Sweet Pea waved a dismissive hand, jaw clenched hard.

Betty sank down into the chair, looking out at the bright sun that pelted against the snowy landscape, sparkling the untouched snow like a field of diamonds in front of them.

"The world is fucked," Betty said quietly, her voice quivering, "I think I just sort of put two and two together the other day," She felt the need to explain herself, but the realization struck her sitting her, so abruptly that she felt stupid for not realizing it sooner.

Sweet Pea raised an eyebrow but didn't move otherwise.

"I think a part of me just kept hoping that things would change, it would go back. That we'd wake up to the Army pounding on our door, telling us they fixed it all and we'd go back to Riverdale. That school would open, Pop's, the Drive-In even too. That I'd see my mom and Polly or Jughead and Archie and Veronica and Kevin. That things would just re-start, like a machine just going back to where it began, like this entire thing was just that one weird summer or something. That we'd all laugh about it and I'd go to college and life would just go on," Betty said, feeling tears well up, "But it's not. It's really not. If it was going to, it would have. It cannot be reversed, even if things did get under control. It's really going to be like this."

She took in a few shaking breaths, "The world is fucked and it's never going back to the way it was before."

Sweet Pea looked at her hard, a sort of pitying look on his face.

"Isn't that just something?" He whispered, reaching a palm out. An invitation.

"You knew that, didn't you?"

"I suppose I came to the same realization you just did about three or four months ago," Sweet Pea sighed, shrugging, "With far less dramatics, mind you."

They sat in comfortable silence for a little bit, listening to the absolute, unflinching silence around them.

"How did you...get through it?" Betty asked, leaning her chin on her other available hand.

"Well, I had to ask myself, what was I living for in my old life? Admittedly, not much. The serpents, a good meal, music...I can't say my motivations have changed, though the scale of it has," He said, looking at Betty, "We make our own fate, our own meaning. It's always been that way, even without walkers killing humans and fucking up supermarkets and all. And I feel like I'm living better than I did in Riverdale. That what I do here matters even more, even stronger. I can't describe it, but it's true."

Betty listened, nodding to herself.

"So, what mattered to you?" Sweet Pea asked.

"Those I cared about," She murmured, "And, well, I suppose the people have changed, but the sole of the feeling hasn't. And my ambitions. I used to want to be a journalist, maybe a…" She broke off before she said 'maybe a mother' but that's what she'd been considering.

"So why can't you?" Sweet Pea asked, "We either survive this or we don't. Either way, one day, someone may come along and find our records. Since we're the only ones around, we get to write the narrative. We're the winners they used to talk about in history class."

"Who woulda thought...a kid from the wrong side of the tracks and a prissy two-shoes," Betty said, cracking a smile, the first true and happy emotion in a long while. Sweet Pea gave her a wide grin back.

"And isn't that something?"

So, if you couldn't tell, we have FINALLY looped back around to the date that occurred in the first chapter. All of this, all the chapters leading up to this, have been more like a looking back on HOW they reached the point they are at and the length of time since they've seen live humans.

If you think about it in this way, we have reached the end of what I like to call 'part one'. I see this story having two parts, but that might change. Point is, I didn't feel like the story and the next chapters were separate enough to be called a whole other book, but I also thought it was important to make note that Part 1 sets up everything that's going to happen in Part 2 and it's important to sorta know that it is different.

As you can probably guess, a huge change that will happen as we go into part 2 is that they'll switch from just partners to significant romantic others. Their time completely alone will also shift, as in, this next part we'll start to see other humans pop up. A lot of their choices into part two is directly related to part 1 events, and a lot of this last chapter specifically. Also, sorta, a warning. We're going to get into some pretty dark subjects. Subjects that, for a zombie!AU story we've sorta ignored or avoided so far, but are going to pop up in some of the next few chapters. I'll put trigger warnings before the chapters for you all, just so you're aware.

I made a playlist for these first 17 chapters, btw, if you guys wanted to listen to it all in one! If you do, I'd love to hear your thoughts upon listening to all the songs as a whole instead of maybe just looking them up as they appear or are posted by me? Either way, I have the spotify and youtube playlist links on my tumblr (youngbloodlex22) if you want to give it a listen or subscribe to the lists!

Lastly, I've posted a VERY smutty Bughead story for those of y'all that ship both ships. It's called 'Definition of Want' and is pretty much the antithesis of this story XD Smutty, fluffy, cute, funny...yep.

Please oh please, if ya like this, remember to review!