Red23: Glad you liked that! I began writing a 100!AU and basically realized it was in this universe. It's sorta in the trash bin, or at least hiatus bin, and maybe one day'll get around to seriously writing it and publishing it!

March 12th, 2019

They tore into the house. It felt ghastly, like that first day walking through it, breaking some sort of silence.

Sweet Pea carried Betty in; he would not allow it any other way. As he shouldered through the threshold to the living room, he was caught off guard, full of emotions. The last time he'd stood here had been right after they'd had sex. He'd thought it would all be grand.

And then he went and got bit by that stupid raccoon. No, he was the stupid one for being out there anyway, and…

"Earth to you, snakey," Brad snapped his fingers in front of his face.

"Dying woman. Bed?"

Sweet Pea nodded, inhaling hard. For a second, he nearly took her to a spare room, but if she was going to die...he wanted her to be in a place she knew. Even if she was not awake to feel it, her heart would know it was their room.

But she wouldn't die. That was silly of him. But what if…?

He set her down, and even though she was covered in yellowing bruises and dried blood, she looked like an angel. He started to kneel down next to her and was rudely shoved out of the room by Brad.

"The fuck, man?"

"You, out! I don't need a scared boyfriend hovering. You'll mess me up," Brad snarked.

"Nuh-uh, not the deal," Sweet Pea tried to shove his way through the door, but Brad was admittedly bigger than him and apparently this wasn't his first rodeo. He expertly pushed Sweet Pea back.

"You really want to go, kiddo?" He demanded, eyes flashing.

"Who you callin' a kid?" Sweet Pea demanded, "You're really going to deny me to be at her bedside? After I open my house to you?" He asked.

"Yeah. I am!"

Sweet Pea didn't know if it was the frustration, the fear, or the anger but his fists flew before he could stop it. Still, hitting Brad square in the nose felt good.

Brad hit back.

In a flash, they were tussling in the walkway outside of the bedroom, throwing punches and kicking and shoving. It was childish and stupid but Sweet Pea had never been told he was particularly smart with his emotions. Quite the opposite, actually.

"Oh my dear God," Octavia grabbed them apart like two puppies playfighting, "Are you both fucking serious?"

"He hit first," Brad said, wiping his nose and the blood that trickled down from it.

"You. Have. A. Patient!" Octavia waved her hands, "And yeah, you get your jollies off from punching and being the biggest ass I know, but didn't you get your fill in? Seriously dude!" Brad looked a bit sheepish.

"And you!" Octavia spun on her heels to Sweet Pea, "Your girlfriend is on her deathbed and you're trying to kill our doctor? Are you insane?"

"I want to be in there with her! That's why the fight started!" Sweet Pea threw out his hands, trying to slide under the warrior woman, but she was not budging.

"No need for simps while I'm trying to do delicate work," Brad sneered.

"He loves his girlfriend like you love your wife," Octavia said in an even, but threatening tone, "And you'd be frantic too, Bradley. But I understand. An agreement...if it seems Betty is going to not make it, you'll call him in. Immediately. Agreed?"

"But-,"

"You have guests," Octavia wouldn't hear a word of Sweet Pea's arguments, "Show us around. And we have a scared to death little kid," She reminded in a hushed whisper and for the first time, Sweet Pea noticed Jughead's younger sister pressed to a wall, eyes far away, "Sweet Pea...you saved your girl. She's home now. You can't do anything else."

Something broke inside of Sweet Pea. He shoved it back, giving a shuddering nod, and spat on his hand.

Brad did the same, "A man of true agreements, I see." He paused, grimacing, "Sorry about your cheek. I'll look at it after I stabilize her." He motioned to where he'd slammed Sweet Pea's face against the lip of a table, "I'll try my best to save her. Promise."

"Please." Sweet Pea whispered, but it was unnecessary. Brad might be a jerk, but he was also a doctor. At some point, he'd made an oath to save people. He had the feeling he wasn't one to renege on that, not with Betty.

"Right!" As soon as Brad shut the door, Sweet Pea tried to focus on anything but Betty, there, cold, behind that door, "Erm, that's my room...and hers. Take any other room you want." Sweet Pea encouraged.

Octavia slinked up behind him, shoving something in his back pocket, "Before virgin eyes see," She said with a hint of mirth, and as he reached back, he realized it was his and Betty's underwear shed before going in the hot tub.

Yeah, not for Jellybean to witness.

She was still where she stood. He hid the underwear in a random drawer before approaching her.

"Hey, let's find a room, right?" He hadn't been around young kids much, but he felt a very strong need to protect her. It was the least he could do for his fallen Serpent King.

"Is that…" Her gaze was fixated on something across the living room. He followed it, and sighed, having forgotten the accessory that hung across a lamp.

"Yeah. Found it as we left Riverdale," He walked over to Jughead's beanie hat and picked it up, "I think we found it so that we were meant to give it to you one day," He said honestly.

Jellybean shook her head, "I can't."

"You should. In fact, it's not ours. It's yours." He pressed it into her hands. When she just stared at it, he took the initiative to position it on her head, "See? Perfect fit."

"Are you sure?" She touched it gingerly, as though afraid it would break, "Betty loved my brother a ton." Her cheeks reddened and she winced, "She also really loves you. She told me."

"I know," Sweet Pea said on both accounts, "And she couldn't have thrown it away. In fact, I would never ask that of her," He knew, even with a slight jealousy streak, that she had loved before they ever had any connection. But how could he be jealous of a dead man? "So I'm not just trying to get rid of it, I loved Jughead like a brother, you know? But it's a Jones special. You're the only Jones around." He tugged on one of her braids, coming loose from its rubber band. In fact, her entire ensemble was absolutely grimy. Completely trashable, to be honest.

"I'll keep it safe. And ask Betty, just to be sure," Jellybean agreed, looking up at him, as though afraid he'd disagree.

"Sounds smart. Then again, I know you're pretty intelligent," He said, knowing it was important to make her feel safe and loved here, "C'mon. Let's go downstairs. There are some clothes that might fit you. You too," He nodded to Octavia as he passed her ferrying boxes to the room she'd clearly chosen as her own.

"Yeah, I'm about ready to burn this 'fit," Octavia snorted, "I haven't changed in...well... if I can't remember, that's probably an issue."

"Washing too," Sweet Pea realized he probably stank as well and thus couldn't recognize their own stenches, but not only had they just killed a whole slew of people, all of them had been out and about for quite some time, "Soap. Water's lukewarm right now...Betty was still working on the heating and all…" He trailed off. Part of him realized with a certain sense that he'd be so lost if they couldn't save Betty. She also said he did so much, but honestly? It seemed pretty skewed right now.

Octavia was watching him, her face pinched.

"Hey, let's go, girl to girl, and find some stuff. And maybe explore a bit, hmm?" She said, steering Jellybean to the storerooms downstairs. She gave Sweet Pea an apologetic look as she passed.

Something was pushing inside of him. As soon as they were out of sight, Sweet Pea closed himself in the bathroom and splashed some water on his face.

What if she died? What if he did all that he did and she still just died ?

He pressed his palm to his mouth, giving a few shuddering sobs.

No. No tears.

Not unless she died.

There was nothing to cry about yet.

He made himself busy organizing the new items and trying to figure out how things would change now that there were five people instead of two. Brad came out only twice; once to ask where Sweet Pea's medicine cash was and once for food. Both times he was almost nice, or as nice as Sweet Pea thought his bedside manner could be, telling Sweet Pea not quite yet.

If you asked Sweet Pea what happened in the hours that occurred between arriving home and after, he wouldn't rightly be able to tell you more than vague guesses; everyone settled in, the girls washed up and changed, he made them all dinner. Apart from that, the world just seemed...dimmer. Colder. Forgettable.

He had a feeling he spent a great amount of time staring at a wall, wondering the absolute worst.

If she died, what would he actually do? It seemed impossible to survive this apocalypse without anyone else, even just a friend. Perhaps he'd join Octavia and Brad. Maybe he'd stick around for Jelly.

Maybe none.

"Sweet Pea?" Brad nudged Sweet Pea's shoulder. He looked up, startled. Then, Sweet Pea looked down at his dinner, a rice dish, far past cold. How long had he just been sitting here?

"Oh, want something?" Sweet Pea started to stand. Yeah, he didn't really want to go about aggravating their only doctor more. Plus, he was saving Betty's life.

"Naw, c'mon," Brad motioned to the door.

"Wh...at?"

"She's stable and I need to examine you. Figured you'd want to be in the same room as her."

"Yes please," Sweet Pea breathed, scrambling up.

"And all my shit is already in here," Brad added. He pulled up a chair for Sweet Pea, standing back and whistling, "You like getting into trouble, huh?"

"Kettle black?" Sweet Pea snorted, noticing more than a few scars on Brad. He shrugged but laughed a bit under his breath.

"Yeah, well, I've never had my throat slit and lived to tell about it," He said, unraveling the bandage and made a noise at the back of his throat, "Fuck, what did the kid use? A pen? You'd think in this day and age, a boy would know how to kill something."

"Glad he didn't," Sweet Pea hummed, though it sort of hurt his throat. He hadn't really been focused on how badly that swallowing anything at all really ached. It hadn't seemed like the most pressing thing until now.

"Obviously, you'll live. Better chances with me around. I'll have to change out the bandages frequently...the one thing we don't want getting infected is that area right there," Brad said, motioning to his general neck area.

Then, he moved onto the more topiary cuts; a few old ones that were probably fine but healing to look horrendous, some gained in the fights earlier, and of course the one from their brawl.

"Guess we're really brothers now," Brad said with a sort of weird tone to his voice. For all it was worth, Sweets understood it. Someone as violent as Brad was unlikely to make friends easily, but part of him wanted to be part of something badly. Why do you think Sweets had been so eager to join a gang?

"Have any?"

"Brothers? Not biological," Brad shook his head, "But friends and 'from another mother'? I'm like a feral cat they all want to adopt," He gave a quiet laugh, and underneath it, it seemed he wasn't as upset about this as he might make himself seem, "Same with Octavia. Same with you, I'd imagine. Three peas in a pod…" He finished awkwardly. He was far more socially weird than Sweet Pea, but maybe that was the point. Maybe he lashed out and was mean to people first so they didn't push him away later.

Another point for things Sweet Pea just understood far too well.

"The Serpents are family, as you are now," Sweet Pea shrugged, "We take care of our own, Hyde."

"No brothers for you either?" Brad guessed.
"Nah, not far as I know. Though from where I'm from, weird shit happens all the time." He said. His eyes turned back to Betty. Part of him had been too afraid to ask, but he couldn't bear to be in the same room as her for such a long time without knowing.

"So?"

"As I said, out of the woods. Worst seems to be okay. I braced things that were broken, I gave her antibiotics and made sure she won't get a fever or something we couldn't control. She's all hydrated with fluids and she seems less pale, wouldn't you agree?" Brad asked.

"So?"

"When will she wake up?" Brad guessed, "The body is a funny thing. Even if we were in a state-of-the-art facility with all the fancy medicine and cost wasn't an issue and the apocalypse was just a poorly done T.V. show on a channel no one's ever heard of...I still wouldn't have a straight answer. She'll wake up when her body decides that's time."

"But she will?" Sweet Pea edged closer to her bed. His fingers grasped her hand; warmer than before. A good sign.

"95% sure. It's the end of the world here. Can't guess every hiccup," Brad said honestly, "But you could talk to her. Lead her out of the woods. As I said... the body's a weird thing."

"I'm good, doc?" Sweet Pea turned, "Don't I get a sucker after my check-up?"

"Shove off," Brad laughed, the first true laugh he'd heard the boy make, "And be glad you're not blacklisted for punching the medical personnel. I'm fucking tired. Where can I crash?"
"Any room that's not claimed," Sweet Pea shrugged.
"Right. Call me if she starts coding," Brad saluted before stumbling out of the room, yawning loudly and on purpose. Let him gloat, Sweet Pea supposed. Being a doctor during these times must be lots of work.

He turned back toward Betty and all in a great rush, his fears came shoving back at him, pushing him so hard he thought he might stumble and fall off his chair.

"Betty, I…" He began, but his voice caught.

Where to even begin?

He reached out to her, fingers quivering, as though she were just a mirage in front of him, something that would vanish if he got too close. Or that it would wake him from his dream and he'd be in a forest somewhere and she'd be still held by those awful, awful people.

Her skin was warm. Too warm still, but at least it wasn't the icy coldness he'd felt on her before.

He relaxed just a tad bit.

Slowly, his fingers traced down to her chest to feel her heartbeat. And it was there, just so faintly, fighting. Perhaps she was fighting for him, but who was he kidding? Betty Cooper was an incredibly strong woman all by herself, and she certainly didn't need no man.

"Arianrhod," He breathed, finding comfort in her other name, the one just between them. He was well aware there were other ears now in this house, it was no longer just them. He doubted anyone was listening or would care. Jellybean seemed over the moon about their relationship. Octavia was mourning but had no reason to tease him. And Brad? Brad was probably dead asleep to the world right now, drooling over one of their guest-bedroom pillows.

He pursed his lips, frowning.

"You know what bothers me?" He asked her, leaning his arms on their bed, his face inches from hers, "I did everything I could, everything, and you might still die."

He sat in silence, as though expecting Betty to give him some sage advice. She usually was quick with that.

As expected, nothing, but it still stung, grasping his heart.

"I guess…" He chewed his lip, "Okay, so the world before this, it sucked ass for me. You know that Betty, you know it. It was hell. I was just living day to day, probably would have burned out in my twenties, and might have been a passing note in the Obits that you'd shed a respectful tear over, but like, you would have been gone. I hate knowing in my heart of hearts what an amazing person you could have been and that was taken from you. But I'm selfish and we wouldn't have found each other otherwise so I...I like us." That in itself wasn't new. Betty had admitted she'd loved their lives before.

He inhaled, feeling embolden and the need to continue, "The Southside chewed people out and spat us back up, angry and punchy. None of us knew how to live in a normal society, not the place that you existed in. I always felt so out of place, distrustful, sure that death - my own or someone's at my hand- was around the corner. You were built for the life before, I was a stone in the river. Then the apocalypse happened, right? And I fucking flourished. It's like I was being prepared for it, so I could help keep us both alive like this is what everything was leading toward. Without it, I feel meaningless, so I cling to this...this idea…" He waved his hands around, "That my place was being your...husband…" his lips carefully bit out the words, trying it out, "or whatever you want me to be, a farmer, in this little house in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin."

He squeezed her hand, kissing it, "I called you my wife before," He admitted, "And I wasn't thinking, it just felt right. You can totally slap me over the head when you wake up if I really put my foot in my mouth, okay?" He told her, "And I'll grin like an idiot when you do."

"We wouldn't have to take names, not unless it mattered. Hell, I'd be a Cooper if that's what you wanted. I'd go to the end of the earth for you, and I did." He said, chest tightening as he recalled the pure fury that had taken him over when he'd found her. He knew that something was within him, something violent and animalistic, but he'd never let it free as he had then.

Back being a Serpent, he probably would have preened at that ability. Now, it made him feel sick. He just wanted a simple life of occasionally killing the dead, was that so much to ask?

"And here's the tough bit, the bit that makes me so...upset…" He clenched his fist, pushing her hair back gently, "If I believe I am made for this life, which I did up until now, I should have been able to save you. And I couldn't. Octavia told me - oh, you'll like her, but point being - Octavia told me I saved you. My job was done. And it was supposed to comfort me, I totally get it. But it didn't. It made me want to scream. Because if I did succeed...you should be awake," He whispered, staring at her face, so relaxed, so still.

"So I guess I'm just...facing a bit of a crisis here, Betts. So it would be fantastic if you woke up to help me through it maybe?" He teased, "Or just sleep. Yeah, nah, you're right. You need some rest. And I'll be right here until you're done."

March 13th, 2019

"Brad? Brad, where are you? Bra-,"

"Shh!"

Octavia heard the harsh hushing sound from Brad in the darkness of the house.

She'd woken up, Jellybean curled by her side and been disoriented. She hadn't remembered where she was or why she was sleeping on a bed until she saw the plaited hair of the girl next to her. Poor kid; it seemed like she was okay, but she must be traumatized. She didn't want Jelly to get too used to sleeping in Octavia's room, since she wasn't planning on staying here permanently, but for the first few nights...or until Betty woke up...yeah, that was okay.

She hadn't been able to get back to sleep. She'd tried to start to pour over the notes from the compound, but they were so jumbled and scattered that she knew it would be weeks to untangle the notes in the margins or understand the shorthand they'd come up with. She would spend forever if it meant finding her friends, though.

She'd gone to Brad's room but hadn't found him. And, stupidly, for a long song, she'd thought he'd left.

But he wasn't. He was in the upstairs part of the house, in absolute darkness, and he was leaning on the threshold of Betty and Sweet Pea's room.

"Is everything alright?" She asked in a hushed whisper, "Oh, no...you don't-,"

"No better, no worse," Brad said quietly. He motioned inside their room. The curtains were pushed open and the light from the moon spilled onto the sleeping figures of the two. Betty, still for all matters dead to the world as her body healed, but Sweet Pea, clinging to her side, cradling her so gently, so tenderly, even in his sleep.

Brad hardly showed emotion. He was a right dick at the best of times and unmanageable at the worst. There were moments, scare and few between when it seemed that all shed away and he was left to show a human, genuine expression instead of his brash demeanor. Like right now.

He was holding his arms tightly, figure clenched, face knit.

Octavia knew he was thinking of his wife, Zahira, who had been taken. Octavia had only known her for a short time and while she for sure wondered how the pair had ever fallen in love, she also knew it to be one of the most quietly pure relationships she'd ever come across.

In her own heart, Octavia was mourning a lost love too.

"We'll find her," Octavia said, deciding to comfort him, as she could not be sure her own love life would mend.

"I was just thinking...he really loves her. It's so obvious," Brad spoke in a quiet, low tone, his already deep voice hardly vibrating in the small space that the two stood, "And that's a tragedy."

Octavia looked back at the pair and her lips quivered.

"This world wasn't made for soft promises or hopeful love," Brad continued, "And they haven't figured that out yet. This world is going to swallow them."

"Maybe it won't," Octavia argued immediately, though she had seen enough so far to be inclined to agree, "They made it this far. He moved heaven and earth for her. Maybe they'll be okay."

"You only get one miracle," Brad said, peeling away from the wall, but couldn't help but take one look back at them, as though trying to memorize the way they reached for each other in their unconsciousness slumber, "And that's what taking down the Predators was. A miracle."

"So you don't think she'll survive this?" Octavia hadn't asked him his true honest-to-god opinion because usually, Brad gave it. Bedside manner was not a strong suit. She never imagined he might be lying to his patient to ease their heart.

"That's medical," Brad scoffed, dismissing it, "Whether or not she lives isn't...the body will or won't and there's no amount of luck or bullshit to change that. So I still don't know." He amended. He started to head back downstairs, "But just...you know, one really good miracle." He mumbled again.

It wasn't until he was already gone that Octavia realized he hadn't been talking about Sweet Pea and Betty, but rather, he'd been talking about Zahira.

March 16th, 2019

"Sweet Pea, Brad's attempting to make some dinn- Holy shit." Octavia paused in their bedroom door, "Is that an iPod?"

"Yep." Sweet Pea said, curled up next to Betty like a cat, in the same place he'd been for practically three days. If Toni were here, she'd scold him and say he was being a terrible host for basically refusing to leave this room, but hell...give him a break, alright?

She was still asleep but was improving, or so Brad said. Just give it time, he knew, but hell...that was really hard.

He'd decided to make a new playlist, one of all the songs that reminded him of Betty. It kept his mind busy and he was taking an agonizingly long time to create it. He would turn on a song and talk with Betty ( a very one-sided convo) about the memories that were attached to the song, or his favorite line, or a fact about the band, or about some story that it reminded him of. He hoped that somewhere, Betty would hear his voice and latch on to it, and it would pull her out of this dark forest.

So he couldn't risk not talking. Whenever his phone was charging, he read her a Nancy Drew mystery book, because he knew it was her favorite.

"Shit, what I wouldn't give for one of those."

"Well, lucky day, I guess," Sweet Pea shrugged, "We found a couple of Apple boxes in one of our raids. Phones without cell service are pretty useless in terms of many apocalypse survival guides, so it's just a super expensive mp3 player at this point. Downstairs, in that little cabinet that has the two mismatched handles, I think?" He stretched his neck, "Between mine and Betty's iTunes libraries, I mean, it's a good selection. We picked up a lot of CDs and put them on there last time we went searching."

"Oh my god," Octavia's eyebrows rose way up, "I just...oh, I miss society."

"Music's important to me," Sweet Pea's skin burned from his neck to his chin.

"No, no! I'm just...you really thought of a lot here, huh?" Octavia leaned on the threshold, "I'm continually impressed, Sweets."

"It was a lot of her," Sweet Pea nodded down, "I just smash things with my baseball bat on occasion."

"I think you do far more," Octavia's smile was watery, "Anyway, want me to bring you whatever monstrosity Brad makes? At least, if it's not burned, that is."

She knew he wasn't going to leave Betty's side.

"Yeah, cool." Food tasted more like sawdust of late anyway, so he wasn't really worried about flavor. He was only eating because he knew Betty would kill him if he stopped and Jellybean had sorta...transferred her fixation on him in a brotherly way. He certainly felt protective over her, and even when Octavia and Brad left, he had a feeling she was going to remain.

For the better. He wouldn't want her out on the road, where it was harsh and unpredictable when she could be warm and safe here. He also totally owed it to Jughead's spirit.

Octavia said a quick word with Betty, a 'get well soon' sort of soft encouragement, before leaving.

Sweet Pea continued compiling his playlist. Only the best songs for Betty.

He looked over, and it was like he was seeing her true state for one moment of clarity. He'd been so determined not to imagine her as broken, just healing, and that she was just taking an extended nap. However, right now, as he glanced over, his mind fuzzed out.

He saw the bruises up and down her exposed skin, he saw the bandages that wrapped all over, he saw the gauntness of her figure from not eating right for God knows how long, and he saw the scars starting to heal all over.

He saw how tattered down she looked.

Fuck; there was a reason Octavia hadn't let Jellybean visit Betty in here yet.

For the first time, the real first time, he thought about the idea she might not make it. Not his own stupid selfish frustrations, but what would he do if she simply never woke up?

The easy, expected answer was to keep on going.

Jellybean was around now, and Octavia and Brad would move on soon enough. He'd be expected to care for her since she very well couldn't at her age. He might try to find others or maybe they'd leave this place and really go in search of others from Riverdale. The idea was that he'd leave her behind and live for other things.

That was the thing that a good person would say.

But Sweet Pea? He might think he was reformed sometimes, but it was in moments like this, hanging on a precipice, he knew he wasn't truly.

He reached a shaking hand out for Betty's fingers, his entire hand swallowing her smaller one, and kissed the back of her knuckles. He stared at her, willing her to wake up and understand him, to hear this.
"Betty, fuck. I can't do this without you," He said earnestly. He knew he was smart in a lot of ways. He knew he could figure things out if he put his mind to it. But living was so much more than just doing things day by day, it was who you shared it with. It was the companionship, the person that kept you laughing when all your crops died or you accidentally put salt instead of sugar into the cookies you had saved ingredients for. It was the person that pushed you to wake up, that told you tomorrow would come, that made living in hell sometimes fantastic.

So no, one a bigger level, it wasn't just that he couldn't do this without her, on the deeper level it was…

"I don't know if I want to. I love you and I don't want to be in this world if you aren't."

There. He said it out loud. It was in the universe.

He wasn't a monster. He'd make sure Jellybean was well cared for, duh, and probably leave her this entire house, but well...he'd never thought he'd make it this old anyway, and certainly not during an apocalypse. Would it really be that bad if he ceased to exist if Betty didn't either?

He looked back at the iPod in his fingers. He coughed, nodding to himself. He was about to make some pithy joke about a song when there was a raw, scratching sound that nearly had him tumble off the chair.

"You won't have to. Not yet."

Sweet Pea jumped up, his chair clattering to the ground. He turned to see Betty blinking weakly at him, fingers reaching for him.

He felt his knees give out and he pulled her into his arms as much as he could without hurting her more, and he couldn't remember the last time he cried so hard out of pure exhaustion and relief.

"Betty, oh, fuck. How much of that did you hear?" He finally asked, settling her back, "Are you feeling okay? Need some water? More pillows? Food? Music? Food? Frick, I said food twice, didn't-,"

"Jordan!" Betty's voice was incredibly raw, but there was that lightness, that brightness to it he'd missed so very, very much.

"Yes?" He was on high alert, ready to grab her anything she wanted. Waffles? You got it. Wine? Okay, weird choice, but sure. A diamond the size of her head? It might take a bit, but Sweet Pea was on the case!

"I just want you," She said, easing him back down, "You know I love you too."

Sweet Pea felt tears in his eyes again. He wasn't going to have tears for days after how much he was crying right now. He'd hoped, and perhaps he'd started to guess, but hearing her say it out loud was the most euphoric thing he'd ever experienced. Up there in his top five best moments of all time, and it was possibly the best because he never imagined someone could feel so dizzy and high without the use of any drugs. There was a reason people lied and killed and stole over love, he decided because it was more addictive than any street drug out there.

"I love you, I love you," He repeated, and he knew she'd heard him, but now that she was awake, he was thrilled in the way her face lit up and her cheeks bloomed with redness and her whole face smiled.

"One sorta shitty grilled cheese coming right-,"

The plate fell from Octavia's hand. She stood, as though scarcely believing it, and from her face, Sweet Pea knew that she had believed Betty was as good as gone. It was like seeing a ghost. Betty frowned, turning to ask who was standing at their door, but Octavia's joyous cry interrupted her.

"Holy shit! Brad! Jelly! Betty's awake!"